
Book A ^-^ 



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Primer of Irrigation 



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ISSUED BY 

PASSENGER DEPARTMENT 

UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY 

OMAHA, NEBRASKA 



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THE fUL 

Primer of Irrigation " 



BY 

D. H. ANDERSON 

(Editor of "The Irrigation Age") 
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U. S. A. 



$ 



CHICAGO: 

Irrigation age company 

Publisher 



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PREFACE 



T^HE author of this work has had in mind for many years 
•*• the outlines of a book which would lend aid to those 
who are beginners in irrrgation farming. 

After work was commenced on this book it was realized 
that much more than one hundred pages would be necessary 
to half-way cover the subject ; before it was completed nearly 
three hundred pages of type were used. 

While much of value could be added, and no doubt a 
lot could be taken away without serious loss, the author pre- 
sents it as it is, trusting that the reader may find some profit in 
its perusal. 

Chicago, June I. 1910. D. H. ANDERSON. 



Copyright. 1903 

By D. H. ANDERSON 

Third Edition, 28th Thousand. 

Pubhshed June, 1910. 

By Transfer 
APR 30 1928 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Soil in General, Its Formation, Characteristics and Uses — Fertility and 
Sterility. 

CHAPTER II. 
Particular Soils, and Their Adaptation to Varieties of Plants. 

CHAPTER III. 
Semi- Arid and Arid Lands — Their Origin and Peculiarities. 

CHAPTER IV. 
Alkali Soils: Their Nature, Treatment and Reclamation. 

CHAPTER V. 
Relations of Water to the Soil. 

CHAPTER VI. 
Plant Foods — ^Their Nature — Distribution and Effects in General. 

CHAPTER VII. 
Plant Foods — Cereals — Forage Plants — Fruits — Vegetables — Root Crops. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
How Plant Food is Transformed Into Plants. 

CHAPTER IX. 
Preparation of Soil for Planting. 

CHAPTER X. 
Laying Out of the Land — Method of Planting. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Laying Out Land for Irrigation. 

CHAPTER XIL 

The Use of Wells, Streams, Ditches and Reservoirs to Dispose of the 
Tremendous Supply of Water. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The Science and Art of Irrigation. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
The Science and Art of Irrigation — Infiltration or Seepage. 

CHAPTER XV. 
Sub- Irrigation — Drainage. 

CHAPTER XVI. ' 
Supplemental Irrigation. 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Quantity of Water to Raise Crops — The Duty of Water. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Measurement of Water. 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Pumps and Irrigation Machinery. 

CHAPTER XX. 
Irrigation of Profitable Crops. 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Irrigation of Profitable Plants. 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Orchards, Vineyards and Small Fruits — Appendix, 



THE PRIMER OF IRRIGATION. 



CHAPTER I. 

Soil in General — Its Formation, Characteristics 
AND Uses — Fertility and Sterility. 

The mere planting of a seed in the ground is not 
Buf&cient to insure its growth, or development into a 
useful or profitable plant. This fact is well known to 
everybody, but what is not so well known is, the reason 
or cause why a seed grows up into a vigorous plant cap- 
able of reproducing seed similar to the one from which 
it sprang, and how it does it. 

There are certain elements which are essential to 
the growth of every plant, the development of every 
germ, for without them it cannot live; these are heat, 
light, air and m.oisture. A few grains of wheat dis- 
covered in the coffin of an Egyptian mummy after 
three or four thousands years' deprivation of the four 
essential elements, were found inert, that is, they were 
not alive, neither were they dead, for upon giving them 
the essentials above referred to, the whea.t sprang into 
life and produced a plentiful supply of grain. 

PLANTS are like ANIMALS. 

Still, notwithstanding the necessity of heat, light, 
air and moisture, plants cannot flourish without proper 
food. In this respect plants are similar to animals. 
Among animals there is no universal specified diet, 
some eating one kind of food, others another. We see 
many that eat flesh exclusively, others whose sole diet is 
insects. Certain animals eat herbs and grass, others 
grain, and when we reach man we find an animal that 

7 



8 The Primer of Irrigation, 

will eat anything and everything, hence we call man 
"omnivorous.'^ 

It is the same with plants, some devouring in their 
fashion a certain kind of food, some another, and so on 
all along the list. Plants are substantially like animals 
that possess a stomach, they eat and digest, absorb and 
assimilate the food they obtain. If the plant is not 
furnished with its proper food, or if it is prevented 
from obtaining it, it shrivels, droops, withers and dies 
just like an animal that starves to death. 

There is another striking resemblance between 
plants and animals, which is the instinct and power to 
seek food. The plant being a fixture in the soil, can- 
not of course, "prowl" about in search of food, but it 
throws out roots, fibres and filaments in every direc- 
tion, its instincts reaching in the direction of food as 
surely and with as much certainty as the nose of an 
animal scents its prey, or the eye of an eagle sees its 
quarry. Not only does the plant seek food beneath the 
surface of the earth, but it thrusts shoots, branches and 
leaves up into the atmosphere for the purpose of ex- 
tracting nourishment there also. 

It is, however, from the soil that plants receive the 
principal supply of food necessary for their develop- 
ment, hence an acquaintance with its chemical and 
physical properties is important in helping us to under- 
stand the nutritive processes of plants, and the operations 
of agriculture. 

Volumes of books have been written on the general 
subject of agriculture, but they are more adapted to 
soils upon which falls sufficient rain to dissolve the salts 
necessary to produce a crop. In a book devoted to irri- 
gation, the principles of agriculture and the adaptation 
of the various elements of plant food in the soil, are 
all the more important as the water employed in irri- 
gation — which is nothing but artificial rain — is abso- 
lutely within the control of man, and not dependent 
upon meteorological uncertainties. One fact should, 



Soil in General. 9 

however, be constantly borne in mind by the practical 
irrigator, that pure water is absolutely sterile so far as 
plant food is concerned, and if poured upon a pure 
soil, which is also sterile, there can be no crop of any 
sort raised. A remedy for supplying a defect of plant 
food in irrigating water will be given in detail , in 
another chapter, the scope of this chapter being limited 
to soils that contain plant food, or are arable, in which 
case the quality of the water is of secondary importance. 

ORIGIN OF ARABLE SOIL. 

Arable soil owes its formation to the disintegra- 
tion of minerals and rocks, brought about by mechanical 
and chemical agencies. The rock may be said to stand 
in about the same relation to the arable soil resulting 
from its disintegration as the wood or vegetable fibre 
stands to what is called the humus resulting from its 
decay. To be fertile, however, the soil must contain 
disintegrated vegetable matter. There is no fertility 
in a heap of sawdust, nor is there in a heap of powdered 
rock; indeed, the two might be combined and still re- 
main sterile, it is only after both have been disinte- 
grated by chemical or mechanical action that they be- 
come plant foods capable of nourishing and maintaining 
plant life. 

From this it results that soil consists of two grand 
divisions of elements: inorganic and organic. The 
inorganic are wholly mineral, they are the products of 
the chemical action of the metallic, or unmetallic ele- 
ments of rocks. They existed before plants or animals. 
Life has not called them into existence, nor created 
them out of simple elements. Yet these inorganic min- 
eral elements of soil become part of plants, and under 
the influence of the principle of life they no longer 
obey chemical laws, but are parts of a living structure. 
Through the operation of the laws of the life of the 
plant, these mineral elements become organic and so 



10 The Primer of IrrigaMen. 

continue until death comes and decay begins, when 
they return to their mineral form. 

Organic elements are the products of substances 
once endowed with life. This power influences the ele- 
ments, recombines them in forms so essentially con- 
nected with life that they are, with few exceptions, pro- 
duced only by a living process. They are the products of 
living organs, hence termed organic, and when formed, 
are subject to chemical laws. The number of elements 
in the inorganic parts of soil is twelve: Oxygen, sul- 
phur, phosphorus, carbon, silicon and the metals : potas- 
sium, sodium, calcium, aluminium, magnesium, iron 
and manganese. 

The number of elements in the organic parts of 
soil does not exceed four : Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon 
and nitrogen. 

The great difference between these two divisions 
is, that while the inorganic elements are combinations 
of two elementary substances, the organic are com- 
binations of three or four elements, but never less than 
two. These three elements, however, are variously 
combined with the other elements to form salts which 
enter into the great body of vegetable products, in fact 
they are continually changing, the mere change of one 
element, or its abstraction forming a new product. It 
is this susceptibility to change, and the constant as- 
sumption of new forms by vegetable products which is 
the foundation of tillage, and the essence of the knowl- 
edge of irrigation. 

HOW PLANTS FEED. 

We do not know and we may not understand what 
life is, nor how plants grow, but it is a knowledge which 
comes to the most superficial observer, that all plants 
feed upon various substances their roots find in the 
soil, which substances are called "salts," and they are 
prepared for the uses of the plant by the action of or- 
ganic matter on the inorganic or vice versa. That is to 



Soil in General. 11 

say, vegetable matter combines with decomposed rocks 
or minerals and forms a plant food without which the 
plant cannot live. We know as a fact that the silicates 
or rock elements and minerals or metallic salts compose 
all the earthy ingredients of soil, and are always found 
in plants, the ashes of any burned vegetable or plant 
showing this. But these silicates and salts do not make 
fertility in soil. Fertility depends on the presence in 
the soil of matter which has already formed a part of 
a living structure, organic substances in fact. It is 
this matter which causes constant chemical changes in 
which lies the very essence of fertility. To make this 
quite clear, it will be sufficient to refer to the fertility 
in the valley of the Nile in Egypt caused by the over- 
flow of the river and the deposits, upon the silicates 
and minerals or metallic salts, which in plain language 
means the sands of the desert, of a layer of mud con- 
taining decomposed vegetable or organic matter. The 
consequence is, chemical action takes place and a rich 
harvest follows. The result would be the same in our 
arid plains where the soil contains all the ingredients 
necessary to plant life, but the element of moisture to 
dissolve and unite them is absent. Here, irrigation 
creates fertility. The oxygen and the hydrogen in the 
water supplies the soil with the elements it lacks to man- 
ufacture plant food. 

There is a curious, not to say mysterious, fact con- 
nected with the transformation of the organic and inor- 
ganic elements in the soil into plant food, and that is, 
the chemical change does not take place except through 
the intervention or agency of the living plant itself. 
It is life that is necessary to the process and this life 
of the plant gives life to the inert elements around it. 
The mere presence of a living plant gives to the ele- 
ments power to enter into new combinations, and 
then these combinations occur in obedience only to the 
well-known, established, eternal laws ©f chemical 
affinity. 



12 The Primer of Irrigation, 

If, on a dry day, a wheat or barley plant is care- 
fully pulled up from a loose soil, a cylinder of earthy 
particles will be seen to adhere like a sheath around 
every root fibre. This will be also noticed in the case of 
every plant. It is from these earthy particles that the 
plant derives the phosphoric acid, potash, silicic acid, 
and all the other metallic salts, as well as ammonia. 
The little cylinders are the laboratories in which nature 
prepares the food absorbed by the plant, and this food 
is prepared or drawn from the earth immediately con- 
tiguous to the plant and its roots. This demonstrates 
the importance of the mechanical tillage of the ground. 
Cultivated plants receive their food principally from 
the earthy particles with which the roots are in direct 
contact, out of a solution forming around the roots 
themselves. All nutritive substances lying beyond the 
immediate reach of the roots, though effective as food, 
are not available for the use of the plants, hence the 
necessity of constant tillage, cultivation of the soil, to 
bring the nutrition in contact with the roots. 

FORMATION AND USE OF EARTH SALTS. 

A plant is not, like an animal, endowed with spe- 
cial organs to dissolve the food and make it ready for 
absorption; this preparation of the nutriment is as- 
signed to the fruitful earth itself, which in this respect 
discharges the functions performed by the stomach and 
intestines of animals. The arable soil decomposes all 
salts of potash, of ammonia, and the soluble phosphates, 
and the potash, ammonia, and phosphoric acid always 
take the same form in the soil, no matter from what 
salt they are derived. 

It is essential that these "salts,'^ as they are called, 
should be understood, for without them there can be no 
fertility. Unless these "salts" exist in a soil in certain 
quantities the organic elements, or what are known as 
'Tiumic acids," are insoluble and cannot be absorbed into 
the plant through its roots, and so there can be no fruit 



Soil in General, 18 

or vegetable. Yet there is such a thing as an excess 
of these same salts, and then there is barrenness. A com- 
mon illustration of which may be seen in what are termed 
"alkali lands," which will be treated in detail in another 
chapter. 

To simplify an acquaintance with these various 
salts, we shall divide them into three general classes 
depending upon the acids formed from them, all of 
them nutritious to plants. 

First — ^Carbonates. 
< Second — Nitrates. 

Third — Phosphates. 

The carbonates compose a very large portion of 
the salts used in agriculture, and include limestone, 
marble, shells. These salts are set loose from the rock, 
that is the decomposed rock already alluded to, by the 
action of the living plant, and their business is to dis- 
solve, or render soluble, the organic matter in the soil, 
eo that the plant may absorb it through its roots. When 
there is an excess of these salts, or of lime or alkali, 
the organic matter is rendered insoluble, that is, the 
plant cannot absorb it, and then the soil is barren. 
There are, however, certain plants known as "gross 
feeders," which flourish in such soils, but of them more 
will be said in another chapter. 

The second class of nourishing salts is the nitrates, 
and includes saltpeter, nitrate of potash, nitrate of 
soda, and all composts of lime, alkali and animal matter. 
This class of salts produces ammonia which hastens the 
decay or decomposition of the organic matter, and pre- 
pares it for absorption by the plant. All the nitrates 
act under the influence of the growing plant and yield 
nitrogen which is essential to its life, indeed, if there 
are any salts which can be called vegetable foods, they 
are the nitrates, and they hold the very first place among 
salts in agriculture. 

The third class of plant nourishing salts is the 



14 The Primer of Irrigation. 

phosphates. They are found in bones, liquid manure, 
and in certain rocky formations which are abundant in 
the United States, and ground up, are largely used upon 
land to add to its fertility and increase the supply of 
plant food. 

The phosphates act much like the nitrates, their 
acid forming a constituent of the plant. 

The proper, proportionate quantity of all these 
salts in the soil, is generally in the order already given ; 
tli^ carbonates in the greater quantity, the nitrates in 
less quantity, and the phosphates least. The quantity 
of any salt which may be used to advantage, however, 
will depend upon the demands or necessity of the plant 
which will show for itself the salt proper for its well 
being and perfection. 

To still further simplify the idea of the use and 
operation of these salts and their necessity, it will 
be well for the reader to again imagine a similarity 
between the plant and an animal. The stomach of the 
animal secretes, or produces, gastric juice and other 
acids which come from practically similar salts, by the 
action of which the organic matter — the meat and veg- 
etables — put into the stomach, are digested and distrib- 
uted to nourish every part of the body. If there were 
no gastric juice, or other acids formed from the salts 
of the body, the organic matter put into the stomach 
could never become food, and the body, left without 
nourishment, would starve and die. 

So it is substantially with plants. The main dif- 
ference being that the plant has no stomach within 
itself, but it requires food just the same as the animal, 
and if it does not receive it, it starves and dies. By the 
active principle of life in the plant as in the animal, 
the salts of the soil are brought into the presence of 
each other to form acids which act upon the organic 
matter in the soil, or the humus, in very much the 
same manner as the gastric juice and other acids of the 



^^^fV in General. 16 

animal stomach, convert it into prepared food, so to 
speak, and the plant absorbs it, is nourished by it and 
grows to maturity. 

SILICATES AS ESSENTIAL TO FERTILITY. 

There is one important prevailing element in all 
soil which can neither be overlooked nor ignored, in 
fact, its power of fertility is unlimited ; we refer to the 
silicates. Salts are spoken of as the inorganic sub- 
stances acting upon humus or organic matter to pro- 
duce nourishing foods that can be absorbed by the 
plant, but behind these salts, there is another sub- 
stance which really constitutes the framework of the 
plant structure, the bony framework of the plant, the 
sinew of the soil. 

Silex, or silica, which is the earth of flints, is, in 
its pure state, a perfectly white, insipid, tasteless 
powder. Glass pulverized is am illustration, so also is a 
sand heap. But earth of flints, sand heaps, are barren 
and worthless, as much so as a peat bog, but put the 
two together, and there is astonishing fertility. This 
silica unites readily with the mineral substances or 
bases, forming what are called '^neutral salts," to which 
is given the name "silicates." Thus we have the silicate 
of soda, of potash, of lime, of magnesia, of alumina, of 
iron and of manganese, a class which forms the great 
bulk of all rock and soil. 

The action of the silicates is simple and easily un- 
derstood. When humus, or decomposed organic matter 
— manure for instance — is mixed with silica, that is 
added to a common sand heap, there is an immediate 
decomposition of the silicate of potash, which we have 
said is a neutral salt, and it becomes an active salt of 
potash which dissolves the humus, or organic matter 
and fits it for plant food. So the same process goes on 
with the other silicates as the various plants growing 
in the soil may demand for their nourishment. They are 
converted into active salts, which are capable of dis- 



16 The Primer of Irrigatt»n. 

solving organic matter, whereas, as neutral, inactive 
salts or silicates, they are powerless to act. 

Were it not for these silicates, the various active 
salts and acids would lose their virtue, but as it hap- 
pens, the silicates hold them in a firm grip, intact, un- 
til the action of plant life demanding food, sets them 
free to aid in preparing plant food. 

The base, or fixed element of the earth called silex, 
or silica — keep in mind a sand heap and it will be easy 
to remember — is "siliconj.'^ It is pure rock crystal, 
common quartz, agate, calcedony and cornelian. All 
these are silicon acidified by oxygen, and hence called 
silicic acid. It is this which forms, with potash, the 
hard coat of the polishing rush, the outer covering of 
the stalks of grasses. It is the stiff backbone of corn- 
stalks which stand sturdily against the blast. Wheat, 
rye, oats, barley, owe their support to this silica, and 
where grain is said to '^lodge" during a heavy storm, the 
trouble may be traced to a deficiency of silica in the soil. 
It cases the bamboo and the rattan with an armor of 
flint so hard that from it sparks may be struck. Enter- 
ing into the composition of all soil, and hard and un- 
yielding as it appears, forming not only the solid rock, 
but the delicate flower, combining with the metals of 
soil whose gradual decomposition is the birth of fer- 
tility, silica, or the sand heap, may well be likened to 
the bony structure or framework of the animal. 

The next chapter on particular soils will give more 
in detail, the component elements which enter into their 
composition, and present a series of tabulated analyses 
showing proportions favorable to the growth of various 
products. 



CHAPTER II. 

Particular Soils, and Their Adaptation to 
Varieties of Plants. 

Although this book is intended to apply exclusively 
to irrigation, that is, the artificial application of water 
to lands deprived of a sufficient rain fall to raise a crop, 
such as the arid and semi-arid lands, which constitute so 
vast a portion of our western country, yet, as all arable 
or fertile soils in whatever part of the world they may 
be, must contain certain elements necessary to plant life, 
an inquiry into the specific nature of soils will supply 
whatever infarmation may be needed to till irrig- 
able lands, as successfully as those where a rain fall 
may be depended upon to raise a crop. It is even pos- 
sible that such information may be of greater practical 
value, because the elements in the soil and the crop itself, 
are under better control and management when the 
ncessary water is in an irrigating ditch, than when it is 
in a cloud beyond control. 

As a matter of fact, there is very little difference in 
soils as such, wherever they may exist. All of them are 
capable of producing some variety of plant life, unless 
absolutely barren on account of the absence of plant 
food, as the Desert of Sahara, for instance, or by reason 
of an excess of the elements essential to plant life, as 
our so-called "alkali lands." But, when it comes to the 
comparative quantities of organic and inorganic ele- 
ments to be found in all soils, there is a vast difference, 
particularly when crops of a certain kind are to be suc- 
cessfully raised. 

It was stated in the last chapter that soil consists of 
inorganic and organic elements. The inorganic ma- 
terial being decomposed rocks and minerals ; to be more 
precise, such as were never endowed with life, and the 
organic material consisting of decomposed vegetable 
matter^ which once possessed some form of life, both of 



18 The Primer of Irrigation. 

which elements are absolutely necessary to grow any 
kind of plant. 

A little experiment, which any one can perform, 
will make this clear to the reader. When any veget- 
able substance is heated to redness in the open air, no 
matter whether it be a peach or a potato, a strawberry or 
a squash, a handful of straw or a beautiful rose, the 
whole of the so-called organic elements, which are car- 
bon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, are burned away 
and disappear, but there remains behind an "ash" com- 
posed of potash, soda, lime, magnesia, iron, etc., which 
does not burn, and which, in most cases, does not under- 
go any diminution when exposed to a much greater heat. 
It is this "ash" which constitutes the inorganic portion 
of plants. 

The predominance of certain of these substances, 
which, it was stated in the last chapter, are absorbed 
from the soil by the operation of plant life, is what en- 
ables agriculturists to give certain names to various 
kinds of soils, which names, however, are of very little 
practical importance, except to enable a farmer to specify 
which of them are best adapted to the varieties of plants 
he desires to raise. 

So far as these inorganic substances are concerned, 
they must exist in the soil in such quantities as easily to 
yield to the plant, so much of each one as the kind of 
plant specifically requires. If they be rare, the plant 
sickens and dies just the same as does an animal when 
deprived of its necessary food. The same thing will 
happen if the organic food supplied the plant by the 
vegetable matter in the soil be wholly withdrawn. It 
should be noted, however, that a plant will sometimes 
substitute one inorganic element for another, if it does 
not find exactly what it requires, as soda for potash, the 
tendency of every plant being to grow to perfection if it 
possibly can do so. This matter will be treated at length 
in the chapter on "Plant Foods." 



Particular Soi/s, 



19 



The following table of the essential inorganic ele- 
ments found in soils will prove useful and well worth 
study. The first column gives the scientific, technical 
name of the elementary bodies; the second column the 
elements or substances they combine with, and the third 
column contains the result of the combinations, that is, 
the various substances ready to form salts which enter 
into the life of the plant. 

Forming 

Chlorides. 

Iodides. 

Sulphurets. 

Sulphuretted Hydrogen. 

Sulphuric Acid. 

Phosphoric Acid. 

Potash. 

Chloride of Potassium. 

Soda. 

Chloride of Sodium, or 

Common salt. 
Chloride of Calcium. 
Lime. 
Magnesia. 
Alumina. 
Silica. 
J Oxides. 
} Sulph'ir'^ts. 

All the above elementary sub^-tances, except sul- 
phur, exist only in a state of combination with other sub- 
stances, principally oxygen, and are found only in the 
soil, in no combination are they generally diffused 
through the atmosphere, so as to be capable of entering 
into the life of the plant through the leaves, or those 
portions above the ground. Hence, they must be taken 
up by the roots of plants, for which reason they are said 
to be the necessary constituents of a soil in which plants 
are expected to grow. 

The enormous quantity of inorganic matter in soil 
may be estimated by a simple calculation. Out of five 
hundred samples of soil gathered from different parts 



Elementary Body 

Chlorine. 

Iodine 

Sulphur 

Sulphur 

Sulphur 

Phosphorus 

Potassium 

Potassium 

Sodium 

Sodium 

Calcium 

Calcium 

Magnesium 

Aluminum 

Silicon 

Iron and ) 

Manganese ) 



Combines with 
Metals 
Metals 
Metals 
Hydrogen 
Oxygen 
Oxygen 
Oxygen 
Chlorine 
Oxygen 
Chlorine 

Chlorine 

Oxygen 

Oxygen 

Oxygen 

Oxygen 

Oxygen 

Sulphur 



20 The Primer of Irrigation. 

of the world, the average weight of a cubic foot, wet, 
has been found to be 126.6 pounds. Now, let us ascer- 
tain how many pounds of mineral, or metallic salts exist 
in an acre of soil, say eight inches deep, the usual tilled 
depth, or surface soil; of the subsoil, we shall speak 
later on. We shall give the chemical analysis of an ordi- 
nary alluvial, or river bottom soil, such as is common in 
the western lands. The first column gives the name of 
the mineral, and the figures in the second column the 
parts of the mineral in an agreed one hundred parts, 
and the third column the weight of each substance in 
the surface soil eight inches deep : 

Elamentary bodies and their combinations Percentage Weight in pounds 

Silica and fine sand 87.143 3,203,781-4- 

Alumina 5.666 208,308-}- 

Oxides of Iron 2.220 81,61.7-j- 

Oxide of Magnesia 0.360 13,2354- 

Lime 0.564 20,735-!- 

Magnesia 0.312 1 1,470-f- 

Potash combined with Silica 0.120 4,4ii-[- 

Soda combined with Silica 0.025 9194- 

Phosphoric Acid combined with Lime 

and Oxide of Iron 0.060 2,205-f- 

Sulphuric Acid in Gypsum 0.027 992-h 

Chlorine in common Salt 0.036 1,323-f- 

Carbonic Acid united to the Lime.... 0.080 2,941-i- 

Humic Acid 1.304 47,941-!- 

Insoluble Humus 1.072 39,4ii-i- 

Organic substances containing Nitro- 
gen i.oii 37,169-t- 

Total Inorganic and Organic sub- 
stances 100. 3,676,464 

It should be remembered that these immense quan- 
tities are contained in only eight inches of top soil, and 
that twelve inches, or one foot of soil, which is about 
the depth before reaching the subsoil, would contain 
a total of inorganic and organic matter equal to 5,514,- 
696 pounds, or 2,757 and one-third tons. 



Particular Soils. 21 

The calculation is made by multiplying 43,560, the 
number of square feet in an acre, by 126.6. pounds, the 
estimated average weight of one cubic foot of wet soil, 
which gives the weight of one acre twelve inches deep. 
Then dividing by twelve, we get the weight of an acre 
one inch deep. To ascertain the weight of eight inches, 
we have only to multiply by eight inches, and again mul- 
tiply by the number of parts of any organic or inorganic 
matter to ascertain the exact weight of that particular 
matter in the acre, thus : 

43,560x126.6=5,514,696 pounds per acre one foot deep. 

5,514,696-^12=1459,558 pounds per acre one inch deep. 

459*558x0. 120=55 1.46960 pounds of Potash in one inch 
acre. 

551.46960x8=4,411 pounds of Potash in acre eight inches 
deep. 

Five right hand figures must be cut off, three for 
the decimal places and two more because the calculation 
is based on a percentage of one hundred parts. 

The average weight of a cubic foot of dry soil, ac- 
cording to the foregoing estimate, based upon the tests 
taken in the cases of five hundred soils collected from 
various places on the globe, is 94.58 pounds, which will 
make the dry soil acre eight inches deep weigh 2,715,792 
pounds, a difference in weight between wet and dry soils 
of 960,672 pounds per acre eight inches deep, which, 
of course, represents the weight of water. 

This information will prove of value in considering 
the question of applying water to the soil. As a rule, 
the proportions of inorganic and organic matter remain 
about the same, except that the application of water by 
irrigation adds to the quantity in soluble matter car- 
ried to the soil, which is greater in the case of irrigation 
than when rain is depended upon^ humus and salts in 
solution being carried in the ditch water. 



22 The Primer of Irrigation. 

ORGANIC MATTER IN THE SOIL. 

By referring back to the test table of a specimen 
soil, it will be noticed that the first twelve substances 
are "inorganic," and the three last "organic." It will 
also be noticed that the proportion of inorganic matter 
is vastly greater than that of the organic. It is necessary 
that this should be so, for the organic matter is the 
"active" principle, the dynamic force, and the inorganic 
matter the "passive" principle. If the proportions were 
reversed, the inorganic matter would react upon and 
destroy itself, and as it could not be replaced very well, 
there would soon be an end to the growth of plants. 
Hence, nature provides a store-house of raw material, so 
to speak, to be utilized in the manufacture of plant food, 
and it is practically inexhaustible, the subsoil, for an un- 
limited depth, containing all the ingredients necessary to 
restore the top soil should it become jaded and unre- 
sponsive to the demands of cultivation and fertility, if 
the farmer will take the trouble to dig down after them 
and bring them to the surface. 

Moreover, the inorganic elements in the soil are 
permanent. They are insoluble except when acted upon 
by the acids formed through the chemical action of the 
organic matter, and the vital force exercised by the 
growing plant. 

In the table of specimen soil, given on another page, 
the percentage of inorganic matter passes 95 per 
centum, while the organic matter is about three and 
one-half per cent. Yet that particular soil is a fertile 
one, in which it is possible to produce a good crop of 
any kind of plant. It is only an analysis, it is true, and 
a chemical analysis is not always to be depended upon, 
because there are so many unknown and mysterious ap- 
plications of the laws of nature, but there are many 
things to be said in favor of ascertaining what ingredi- 
ents the soil does contain, approximately, if not with 
rigorous exactitude. It gives the practical farmer valu- 



Particular Soils. 23 

able information in the form of suggestions for the im- 
provement of the soil. It enables him to remedy the 
defects in his land by the application of substances it 
needs, and, what is equally of value, it enables him to 
avoid adding to the soil what he knows it already con- 
tains, and will put him upon the search for substances 
it does need. Moreover, an analysis will indicate to the 
farmer whether a certain soil is capable or not of pro- 
ducing a good, profitable crop of certain plants, and 
save him from losing his time, labor, and money by 
planting a crop which can not grow to perfection be- 
cause of some defect in plant food necessary to plant life. 
In other words, the farmer will know what to do with 
his land without guessing, or trying expensive experi- 
ments. This is not "Book farming," it is common 
sense. 

The reader has already discovered that the inorganic 
elements consist of decomposed rocks and minerals, 
which have assumed a variety of forms by combining 
with one another, and now he has reached a point which 
is the foundation of plant life, being that other essential 
in all soils, the organic elements, which must exist in a 
greater or less proportion. This organic matter con- 
sists of decayed animal and vegetable substances, some- 
times in brown or black fibrous particles, many of which, 
on close examination, show something of the original 
structure of the objects from which they have been de- 
rived; sometimes forming only a brown powder inter- 
mixed with the mineral matters of the soil, sometimes 
entirely void of color and soluble in water. In soils 
which appear to consist of pure sand, clay, or chalk, or- 
ganic matter in this latter form may often be detected 
in considerable quantities. 

In the table already given, the percentage of Humic 
acid. Insoluble Humus, and organic substances contain- 
ing Nitrogen, is given as 3.387 per centum, a very small 
quantity apparently, but really amounting to 124,521 



M The Primer of Irrigation, 

pounds or 62^ tons, in a top layer of soil eight inches 
deep, covering one acre of land. A quantity sufficient 
to supply crops with essential matter for plant food dur- 
ing many years without manuring. 

This vegetable matter is the result of vegetable de- 
composition, a decay which means fermentation ending 
in putrefaction, a purely chemical process. Whence it 
is said: Growth is a living process; death, or decay, a 
chemical process. Putrefaction is the silent and on- 
ward march of decay, its goal being humic acid, which 
in its turn produces life. The saying of that great physi- 
cian of the past centuries, Paracelsus, may be aptly 
quoted here: "Putrefaction is the first step to life." 
Everything travels in a circle in the vegetable as well 
as in the animal kingdom: The ^gg, or germ must 
first putrefy to produce an animal, and the seed, or plant 
germ, must first putrefy before there can be any living 
plant. 

It has been said that various names have been given 
soils, according to the predominating mineral of which 
they are composed, but in reality, there are only three 
great varieties of soil: sand, clay and loam, the latter 
being a mixture of granite sand and clay. The great 
distinctions in the scale of soils, may be said to be sand 
and clay, all other varieties proceeding from mixtures 
of these with each other. Now, the sand may be silice- 
ous, or calcareous, that is, composed of silicates or lime. 
By clay is meant the common clay abounding every- 
where, and composed of about thirty-six parts of Alum- 
ina, 68 parts of Silica, Oxide of Iron, and Salts of Lime, 
and Alkalies, 6 parts. A sandy clay soil is clay and 
sand, equal parts; clay loam is three fourths clay and 
one fourth sand; peat soil is nearly all humus, which 
we have seen is vegetable matter decomposed, decayed 
or putrefied; garden, or vegetable mold is eight per 
cent humus, the rest being silica, and the other mineral 
substances ; arable land is three per cent humus. There 



Particular Soils, 25 

are, in addition to these varieties of soil, several special 
varieties which are fortunately not general, and there- 
fore, need not be more than referred to. They are those 
peculiar conditions found in the "black waxy," "bad 
lands/' "hard pan,'' upon which, nothing short of dyna- 
mite will make any impression so far as discovered, and 
the "tules," which are common to California, but are 
extraordinarily fertile when reclaimed, being similar to 
peat bogs without the disadvantages of the latter, and 
that are known as "swamp" or "marsh lands." When 
it comes to "desert lands" in the sense of the Acts of 
Congress, they lack only water to make them as fertile 
as any lands in the world. They will be treated in the 
chapter on Arid and Semi-Arid Lands. 

Aside from the chemical composition of soils, what 
equally concerns the farmer is their physical charac- 
teristics. These may be enumerated under the terms 
cold, hot, wet and dry land. And these are dependent 
upon weight, color, consistency, and power to retain 
water. The relation of the soil to consistency makes 
it light or heavy; its relation to heat and moisture 
makes it hot or cold, dry or wet. 

Taking the varieties already specified, sand is al- 
ways the heaviest part of soil, whether dry or wet ; clay 
is among the lightest parts, though humus has the least 
absolute weight. To calculate more closely: a cubic 
foot of sand weighs, in a common damp state, 141 
pounds ; clay weighs 115 pounds, and humus, 81 
pounds, and garden or vegetable mould and arable soil 
weigh from 102 to 119 pounds. The more humus com- 
pound soil contains, the lighter it is. 

The power of a soil to retain heat is nearly in pro- 
portion to the absolute weight. The greater the mass 
in a given bulk, the greater is this power. Hence, 
sand retains heat longest, three times longer than 
humus, and half as long again as clay. This is the 
reason for the dryness and heat of sandy plains. Sand, 



86 The Primer of Irrigation, 

clay and peat are to each other as 1, 2, 3 in their power 
of retaining heat. 

But while the capacity of soil to retain heat de- 
pends on the absolute weight, the power to be warmed, 
which is a very important physical characteristic, de- 
pends upon four circumstances: color, dampness, mat- 
erials, and fourth the angle at which the sun's rays fall 
upon* it. 

The blacker the color, the easier warmed. In this 
respect, white sand and gray differ almost fifty per cent 
in the degree of heat acquired in a given time. As 
peat and humus are of a black, or dark brown color, 
they easily become warm soils when dry, for secondly, 
dampness modifies the influence of color, so that a dry, 
light-colored soil will become hotter sooner than a dark 
wet one. As long as evaporation goes on, a difference 
of ten or twelve degrees will be found between a dry 
and a wet soil of the same color. Thirdly, the differ- 
ent materials of which soils are composed exert but very 
little influence on their power of being heated by the 
sun's rays. Indeed, if sand, clay, peat, garden mould, 
all equally dry, are sprinkled with chalk, making their 
surfaces all of a color, and then exposed to the sun's 
rays, the difference in their temperature will be found 
to be inconsiderable. 

Fourthly, the angle at which the sun's rays fall on 
the land, has much i do with its heat. The more 
perpendicular the rays, the greater the heat. The effect 
is less in proportion as these rays, by falling more slant- 
ing, spread their light out over a greater surface. This 
point is so well understood that it is not necessary to 
dwell any longer upon it, further than to add, that there 
are localities where every degree of heat diminishes the 
prospect of a good crop, particularly in hot regions, 
and the circumstance should be taken advantage of to 
obviate the danger of loss. A northern exposure or 
an eastern exposure, or a crop on a slope may sometimes 



Pmrticular Soils. 27 

realize more benefit than if this knowledge were dis- 
regarded. 

The relation of soil to moisture and gas, particul- 
arly moisture, is of great importance in the case of 
irrigation. All soil, except pure siliceous sand, absorbs 
moisture, but in different degrees. Humus possesses 
the greatest powers of absorption, and no variety of 
humus equals in its absorptive power, that from animal 
manure, except those heavily charged arid and semi- 
arid lands, in which fibrous roots and vegetable matter 
form a large part of the elements they contain. The 
others rank in the following order : Garden mould, clay, 
loam, sandy clay, arable soil. They all become satur- 
ated with moisture by a few days' exposure. 

It is a very interesting question : Does soil give up 
this absorbed water speedily and equally ? Is its power 
of retaining water equal ? There is no more important 
question to the irrigator. As a general fact, it may 
be stated, that the soil which absorbs fastest and most, 
evaporates slowest and least. Humus evaporates least 
in a given time. The power of evaporation is modified 
by the consistency of the soil; by a different degree of 
looseness and compactness of soil. Garden mould, for 
instance, dries faster than clay. As it has already been 
shown, that the power of being warmed is much modi- 
fied by moisture, so the power of a soil to retain water 
makes the distinction of a hot or cold, wet or dry soil. 

Connected with this power of absorbing moisture, 
is the very important relation of soil to gas. All soils 
absorb oxygen gas when damp, never when dry. 
Humus has this power in the highest degree, however, 
whether it be wet or dry. Clay comes next, frozen 
earths not at all. A moderate temperature increases 
the absorption. Here are the consequences of this ab- 
sorptive power. 

When earths absorb oxygen, they give it up un- 
changed. But when humus absorbs oxygen, one por- 



98 Thi Primer ef Irrigation, 

tion of that combines with its carbon, producing car- 
bonic acid, which decomposes silicates, and a second 
portion of the oxygen combines with the hydrogen of 
the humus and produces water. Hence, in a dry 
season well manured soils, or those abounding in humus, 
suffer very little. 

The evaporation from an acre of fresh-ploughed 
land is equal to 950 pounds per hour; this is the great- 
est for the first and second days, ceases about the fifth 
day, and begins again by hoeing, while, at the same 
time, the unbroken ground affords no trace of moisture. 
This evaporation is equal to that which follows after 
copious rains. These are highly practical facts, and 
teach the necessity of frequent stirring of the soil in 
the dry season. Where manure or humus is lying in 
the soil, the evaporation from an acre equals 5,000 
pounds per hour. At 2,000 pounds of water per hour, 
the evaporation would amount in 92 days, that is, a 
growing season, to 2,208,000 pounds, an enormous 
quantity of water, too much to be permitted, however 
beneficial that evaporation may be. It is true that this 
evaporation is charged with carbonic acid, and acts on 
the silicates, eliminates alkalies, waters and feeds 
plants, but where irrigation is practiced, the evapora- 
tion is carried on with as good an effect beneath a mulch 
of finely pulverized soil through which it penetrates, if 
the land is properly prepared for and tilled after the 
application of water. This is a subject which demands 
careful study, so that the laws of nature may be as 
rigorously enforced when man takes them under his con- 
trol, otherwise, there will always be failure. How to 
enforce those laws without doing violence to the prin- 
ciples which underlie them, is matter which will be 
fully treated in future chapters. 

In concluding this chapter, it is deemed proper to 
call the attention of the reader to this maxim which 
should never be forgotten: It is not the plants grown 



Particular Soils. 89 

in a soil that exhaust it, but those removed from it. 
It is an undeniable fact, that the growth of plants in 
any soil is beneficial, inasmuch as it brings into play 
the forces of nature which are in constant motion to- 
ward increase through fertility. For ages, the great 
prairies of the West, and also the so-called "arid, and 
semi-arid" lands have been storing up humus which 
now needs but the application of water to convert them 
into lands that will laugh with rich harvests. Plant 
life has, for centuries, sprung into existence, reached 
maturity, and decayed, going back into the soil, with no 
hand to remove it. The consequence is, all these lands 
are rich in salts and humus, and it is left for the man 
with the ditch to add moisture, open the soil and admit 
oxygen to the seeds he plants, so that they shall be fed 
up to perfection and enable him to reap a glorious har- 
vest. 

The laws of nature are the same in this regard as to 
the man who looks to the heavens for his inconstant 
rainfall. There is for him to consider in the lands un- 
der ditch, that all soil has four important functions to 
perform, which are: 

First. — It upholds the plant, affording it a sure 
and safe anchorage. 

Second. — It absorbs water, air and heat to promote 
its growth. These are the mechanical and physical func- 
tions of the soil. 

Third. — It contains and supplies to the plant both 
organic and inorganic food as its wants require ; and 

Fourth. — It is a workshop in which, by the aid of 
air and moisture, chemical changes are continually going 
on; by which changes these several kinds of foods are 
prepared for admission into the living roots. 

These are its chemical functions. They all are the 
law and the gospel of agriculture, and all the operations 
of the farmer are intended to aid the soil in the per- 
formance of one or the other of these functions. 



CHAPTER III. 
Semi-Arid and Arid Lands— Their Origin and Pe- 
culiarities. 

From a general chemical point of view there is 
very little difference between the soils elsewhere on 
the surface of the globe, and those in the vast empire 
in the United States west of the 100th meridian. The 
soil possesses the identical organic elements already spe- 
cified in the table given in the second chapter ; the same 
organic substances abound; the processes of plant life 
are similar, and the same plant foods are essential 
to the welfare of crops. Still, there is a difference ap- 
parent to every man who thrusts a spade into the 
ground, plants a seed, and attempts to coax the soil 
to produce a harvest. 

A bird's eye view of the entire region impresses 
the observer with the appalling sense of a vast, barren 
desert, a few oases, here and there, where widely sepa- 
rated streams and springs exist, but in the main it 
is an illimitable ocean, a desolate plain, with occasional 
straggling clumps of scant coarse grass, sage brush, 
artemisia, chemisal, greasewood, scrub oak, cactus and 
other sparse vegetation, kept alive by the scant snows 
of winter followed by dreary, hot, rainless summers, or 
by inadequate winter rains succeeded by a tropical dry 
season. This is the general aspect of the semi-arid 
lands. 

Beyond them, except in the North, there is no win- 
ter, no seasons, nothing but a pitiless cloudless sky, 
tropical heat, unmitigated by moisture, with an atmos- 
phere so dry and desiccating that animal matter exposed 
to its oxygen dries, or oxidizes and becomes reduced to 
an odorless powder, the toughest substance soon pre- 
senting the appearance of a moth-eaten garment. This 
is the aspect of the arid lands. Some say there are 
a hundred millions of acres of both kinds of land west 
of the 100th degree of longitude, others claim a hundred 

so 



Semi- A rid and A rid Lands. SI 

and fifty millions of acres, but the author suspects a 
still greater measurement. 

Notwithstanding all these discouraging features, 
there is no land in the world that possesses greater fer- 
tility, greater capacity for plant growth, and that will 
so amply and so richly repay the labor of him who 
puts his hand to the plow and blinds his eyes to the 
hideous scenic features, until he has created an oasis 
of his own, in the midst of which he may sit in peace, 
plenty and content, beneath his own vine and fig tree, 
in a cooling breeze, sipping the pure cold water from 
his own olla hanging in the shade, while over, beyond 
him, sizzling in the hot sands of the so-called desert, 
eggs may poach in the intense heat, and not even an 
insect find energy enough to emit a single buzz. 

By and by, a neighbor comes, sees the oasis and 
the near by sands, wonders if he can accomplish as 
much, tries it, and is surprised to find how easily it 
is done. Then comes another neighbor, and another, 
and still more, who push the desert farther off, until 
there is no desert as far as the eye can reach, nothing 
visible but rich harvests, fat kine, and plenty. The 
very atmosphere has changed; the rainfall is slightly 
increased, where rain and moisture had been strangers 
from a time far beyond the memory of man, the dews 
of heaven begin to fall and restore to the parched soil 
a portion of the moisture stolen from it by the greedy 
sun. It is a desert reclaimed, semi-arid and arid lands 
wrenched from the grasp of ages of barrenness and in 
tlie struggle forced to perspire plenty, comfort, and 
wealth. Is the picture overdrawn ? The reader has but 
to look around to perceive the truth of it; it is a mov- 
ing picture constantly before the eyes of him who turns 
them in the right direction. 

There are men still living who remember when all 
that vast domain was considered as a desert, and indi- 
cated on the maps of long ago, as "The Great American 
Desert,^' even the Government regarding it as a desert 



32 The Primer of Irrigation. 

not worth offering the public, or so poor and worthless 
as not to be worthy of protecting against marauders. 

It has been said that from a general chemical 
standpoint, there is no difference in the soil which 
offers so mournful and dreary a prospect as our semi- 
arid and arid lands, and that found anywhere else on. 
the globe. In their physical characteristics, however, a 
vast difference is presented to the eye, but that differ- 
ence is not to the disadvantage of the desert, for when 
we come to investigate, even carelessly, we discover a 
greater richness of inorganic and organic matter than 
in any other region on the earth. For ages the land 
has been exposed to the lixiviating action of rain water, 
in greater or less quantities — for it must be taken as 
true that at some period in the misty past all these 
lands were exposed to the wash of rains — without los- 
ing their fertility. As year after year and age after 
age rolled away, greater or less vegetation grew to ma- 
turity, and, unharvested, returned back into the soil to 
further enrich it, and hence it became richer and richer, 
for it must be remembered, that the fertility of the 
ground is not diminished by plants growing therein; 
it is not until they are removed from the ground that 
the soil gradually loses its fertility. Neither was there 
any impairment by their utilization as pasture grounds 
for countless herds of wild and domesticated animals, 
for those, during ages of pasturage, returned to the 
soil the elements most suitable for plant life. 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

Inasmuch as this book is devoted to irrigation, it 
will be understood in all cases, that the lands and soils 
referred to in it belong to that class known as ^^arid," 
or "semi-arid,^^ or, as they are commonly called, "desert 
lands,'^ as contradistinguished from those soils which 
produce crops through the instrumentality of rain. This 
is often said to be raising crops by "natural means,'' but 
it by no means follows that growing crops by irrigation 



SetH i-A rid and A rid Lands. 38 

implies ^^uimatural" means, the latter method being 
equally as natural as the former, the forces of nature 
being equally at the command and disposal of the farmer. 
Nature works along lines laid down by general laws, 
and man makes a special application of them for his 
own uses and purposes. He drains the land when the 
rain fall is too abundant, and when it is insufficient, or 
fails altogether, he irrigates it. He follows the laws 
of nature in both cases, wthout altering, straining, or 
violating them, indeed, he could not if he would. 

Comparing the entire vast area of arable desert 
lands of the great West with the lands within the rain 
belt, the soil relations between the various localities 
are substantially the same. There are good and there 
are bad lands, lands that are fertile and others that are 
sterile; here we find soils which will grow luxuriant 
crops, there we see soils that are not worth even an 
experiment. 

To realize this properly the reader must divest 
his mind of the idea of immensity that amazes, and 
often disheartens him ; this idea eliminated, the only 
thought that should dominate his mind, if he con- 
templates practical success, is, how to abolish the actual 
differences and arrive at practical uniformity in agri- 
cultural results. He thinks of the pioneers who went 
into the forests with their axes and laboriously felled 
trees and extracted stumps with infinite labor, to pre- 
pare a clearing, in the soil of which he might plant 
his sparse crops, and wait years before establishing 
any sort of home. Perhaps he remembers how a bog 
or marsh had to be drained, and the years it required 
to "sweeten^^ the soil before it could be utilized. He 
does not fully realize that in the desert his land is ready 
for his muscles, for his seed, and for his crop ; he does 
not dream that he does not have to grow old before 
carving out a comfortable home as he had to do in 
the old days, back in what he is pleased to call "God's 
country,'' and that out in the desert he may have a 



34 The Primer of Irrigation. 

home and plenty while still young enough to enjoy them. 

The climatic differences are too much in favor of 
the desert to desire alteration, but the diametrically op- 
posite methods of controlling the soil are difficult to 
be appreciated, though they are never baffling. They 
are no greater than elsewhere, but they are opposed by 
preconceived opinions, perhaps, rooted prejudices, and 
are, therefore, apparetly more serious. There are illim- 
itable treeless regions, covered or patched with stunted 
vegetation, that receive little or no moisture at all 
from the clouds, and a soil parched, even burned by 
the hot sun. Yet the scientists have discovered and 
classified 197 different species of plants that love the 
desert soil and flourish in it. Many of them suitable 
for animal food, all of them indicating some quality 
in or under the soil as plainly as if they were labeled. 

Thus, greasewood, or "creosote bush,^' indicates less 
than 0.4 per cent of alkali in the soil; salt grass and 
foxtail mean that there is plenty of moisture at the 
surface of the ground and consequently, the presence 
of free ground water not far below the surface; shad 
scale indicates dry land with less than 0.4 per cent 
of salt; rabbit bush flourishes on sandy soil compar- 
atively free from salts, and will seldom grow under any 
other conditions; sweet clover and foxtail indicate wet 
land and less than four per cent of salts, though sweet 
clover will grow in six per cent alkali soil and produce 
a fairly good crop for forage if harvested very early. 

So it is with the color of the soil. Indications are 
ever present of the dominant characteristics of the 
ground. Eed soils always indicate iron in the form of 
an oxide; black soils mean carbonate of soda, an alkali 
ruinous to vegetation; white soils or gray mean soda 
in sulphate salt form, also deleterious to plants when 
more than one or two per cent ; gray or brown and black 
cracked or checked soil with vegetation, signifies adobe, 
while barren, dark or light colored soil so hard that 
dynamite is more suitable for its tillage than a plow,. 



Semi- A rid and A rid Lands. 85 

is 'Tiardpan/^ the former indicating a soil retentive of 
moisture, the latter indicating that moisture is some- 
where beneath. 

Another peculiarity of desert land soils is the fre- 
quent occurrence in the soil when plowed or dug up, 
of innumerable small roots or rooty fibers. They are, 
indeed, vegetable remains, but through lack of moisture, 
they have not fermented into humus, though it may 
be said that they have practically '^oxydized^' without 
losing any of their nitrogenous elements. It is well 
for the desert soil where this organic matter exists, that 
these rooty fibers have not fermented, for the inorganic 
matter, the alkalies and other mineral and metallic 
salts would have speedily devoured the product and 
left nothing for plants to feed upon. The reader has 
already been informed that both organic and inorganic 
elements are essential to plant life, and that the inor- 
ganic elements — the substances given in the table in 
the second chapter and their combinations into salts, 
are largely in excess of the organic elements. The same 
principle holds good in the case of desert soils — it is 
not a theory but a practical fact — that organic matter 
added to the inorganic means life; their separation, 
death. Hence, it is clear, that the addition or presence 
of organic matter and nitrogen, added to the mass 
of inorganic substances in the soil, tempers the latter 
and lessens its natural tendency to do harm. In the 
case of an alkali soil, vegetable matter and nitrogenous 
substances lessen the deleterious effects of the alkali, 
although it may not reduce the percentage of the salts. 
Whence, also, the presence of masses of coarse or fine 
vegetable fibers in the soil is evidence of either the 
absence of an excess of alkali, or that it is under con- 
trol and innocuous to vegetation. Perhaps the reader 
may see in this a way to get rid of the alkali in soils 
and render them fertile. If he does, he will not be 
far wrong in his idea, as we shall see presently. 



36 The Primer of Irrigation. 

LACK OF WATER. 

There are two conditions which are the bane of 
all desert lands, whether arid or semi-arid: Lack of 
water and the presence, in excess, of alkalis. We shall 
devote space here to some general remarks on both 
conditions, leaving it to subsequent chapters to enter 
more into details. The chapters on "Alkali Soils," 
"The Eelations of Water to the Soil," and that on "Cul- 
tivation," will give more particulars, though at this 
point it may be necessary to include matter which will 
be repeated elsewhere, or presented from a different 
viewpoint. This, however, should not be deprecated 
as a fault, but extolled as a benefit, for the subject is 
of so much vital importance that it can not be repeated 
too often, lest it be forgotten. 

There must be a water table at some point below 
every soil, at a less or greater depth. This may be 
accepted as a fact without going into geology to prove 
it. Such subsoil water originates in a variety of sources, 
through percolations from above, underground streams 
coming from great distances, from springs that have 
their original sources in some nearby hill or mountain 
land, by seepage from rivers, brooks, or streams, from an 
irrigating ditch, or pond, and from the artificial sur- 
face application, or through sub-irrigation. Although 
the action of the earth^s gravity pulls or draws water 
downward as it does every other object heavier than 
the atmosphere, the constant natural tendency of the 
water beneath the surface is to rise to the surface and 
evaporate. 

It is this rise of the water table to the surface 
that causes more alarm than any other process of nature 
in the arid and semi-arid regions, particularly in the 
arid regions where all water must be applied artificially. 
The reason is obvious. The subsoil water contains in 
solution whatever soluble salts it may come in contact 
with, and reaching the surface, evaporates, leaving be- 
hind a deposit of the salts as crystals. Constant deep 



Semi- A rid and A rid Lands. 87 

cultivation also has a tendency to bring up the water 
table with alkaline solutions, for we have already seen 
that the subsoil contains in reserve as much mineral 
matter and salts as the surface soil. And this is so 
whether the land is in the arid regions or in the ram 
belt, the disadvantage of the desert land being that the 
proportion of organic matter is not high enough to 
maintain an equilibrium of plant food consumption. 
Still, this is not an incurable disadvantage, for when 
the labor and expense of draining, mixing, tempering, 
and reducing soils in the rain belt is compared with 
the trifling care and attention devoted to desert land 
soils to render them continuously fertile, the wonder 
is that they produce any crops at all, so slight is the 
effort to make them yield. 

It is not uncommon to fill the subsoil with water 
from irrigating ditches, by putting into it all the sup- 
ply obtainable during the flood season, thus bringing 
the water table sufficiently near the surface to supply 
the crops by capillary action. This brings the ground 
water within three or four feet of the surface, which 
is well enough for alfalfa and gross feeding plants, but 
is bad for trees, vines, and more delicate plants. In 
arid regions where irrigation is the only means of bring- 
ing moisture to the soil the water table may be a hun- 
dred or more feet below the surface and can not rise on 
account of impenetrable strata of rock or hardpan. But 
in that case the irrigation water creates a new water 
table, the excess of the irrigating water sinking down 
until it meets an impervious stratum of rock or hard- 
pan, and there it accumulates, becomes stationary, dis- 
solves out the earth salts and when the surface soil 
dries out or is deeply cultivated begins coming to the 
surface by capillary action, every subsequent additional 
saturation of the soil from the irrigating ditch increas- 
ing the area and zone of the artificial water table. 
When that happens, and it does happen in desert lands 
sooner than it takes to clear the ground of trees and 



38 The Primer of Irrigation. 

stumps in the rain belt, drainage becomes of vital im- 
portance, second to irrigation itself. 

In semi-arid regions, where there is some rain fall, 
though inadequate, the amount of rainfall, whatever 
it may be, has washed the alkali out of the surface 
soil down into the water table, and the surface soil 
is freer from the deleterious material, which in the 
arid soils even prevents the seeds from germinating 
and obtaining a foothold strong enough to resist it, 
for when a plant has outgrown its infancy, and devel- 
oped its first true leaves, it will require a most extraor- 
dinary quantity of deleterious material to destroy it. 
It refuses to absorb what it does not need and does 
not require, and unless wholly overpowered by the so- 
lutions in the water that surrounds it, it will grow 
up to be something more or less perfect. 

It is said that six or eight inches of rain will 
mature a crop in the semi-arid region with proper cul- 
tivation. It matters little whether it be wheat or bar- 
ley if the grain be sown very thin to allow more room 
for stooling. Six inches will grow it to fodder and eight 
inches will cause it to head out fairly well. An instance 
has been called to the attention of the author, where 
ten inches produced two crops without irrigation. 

A fair crop of potatoes was grown in and removed 
from the fibrous, red clayey soil in April. The land 
lay on a side hill, about in the center, the summit of 
which had been roughly plowed to gather as much 
rain as possible so as to utilize the seepage for the po- 
tatoes. Immediately after the removal of the potatoes 
the land was plowed deep, and moisture still showing, 
it was carefully cultivated. Corn, of the variety known 
as "white Mexican," was then dibbled in and left to 
its fate. From the time of its planting, until harvested, 
not a drop of water was put on the land by way of 
irrigation, and only about an inch of rain in "Scotch 
mists" fell upon the surface. The corn came up in 
four days and grew strong and vigorous. The soil 



S€m i-A rid and A rid Lands, 39 

was plowed deep about every ten days, fully turned 
over and followed with the cultivator and harrow, until 
it became so soft and powdery that it was difficult to 
walk in it. It was also hoed frequently, not a weed 
being permitted to appear, and the soil stirred deep 
and drawn well up over the roots. The land measured 
about an acre. The corn grew to full maturity without 
a single set back, or twisting of a leaf. The stalks 
measured an average of nine feet and each bore from 
two to four perfect ears of plump kernels, and made 
good roasting ears, and when harvested in the middle 
of June, the ground still showed some moisture. 

Instances of this particular kind are abundant in 
every locality in the arid and semi-arid regions. They 
are nothing but experiments, or rather accidents, and 
prove nothing that can be of general utility. They 
show, however, what may be done by careful cultivation 
with a small amount of water husbanded to the last 
drop. There was not a particle of alkali in the soil 
above referred to, and it was very retentive of moisture. 
It emphasizes what the author contends, and what sci- 
entific investigation places beyond the pale of denial, 
that cultivation and moisture are what may be con- 
sidered essentials, and not water in its liquid form. 
To borrow a word from another profession: we are 
dealing with the homoeopathy of agriculture, and ad- 
vocating water triturations provided they accomplish the 
purpose of growing a profitable crop, where drastic 
doses will ruin. 

In every case, however, the supply of water dimin- 
ished by evaporation must be restored either by irriga- 
tion or by rain fall, and the requisite amount must be 
continuous and not intermittent; that is, the plant 
must be kept growing. 

If it were not for the fact that water is a solvent 
of the salts necessary to plant life, and as a medium 
for conveying them in a state of solution to the plants, 
there would be no necessity for water, and plants could 



40 The Primer of Irrigation. 

grow in an absolutely dry and rainless region without 
irrigation. 

It should be borne in mind that it is not so much 
'Vetness" that plants require, as a medium for dissolv- 
ing the earthy salts pnd vegetable acids, so that the two 
may find their affinities and form the various chemi- 
cal combinations which are necessary to make the plant. 
When that has been accomplished all the rest is sur- 
plus, waste, useless expenditure of the forces of nature, 
deleterious to plants by over feeding them, and injurious 
to the soil by washing its reserve elements out alto- 
gether, or driving them down into the subsoil beyond 
the reach of the plant roots, or forcing them to com- 
bine in excessive quantities which leach out, or crys- 
tallize on the surface and accumulate in masses that 
prevent the germination of seeds. 

More will be said upon this important subject in 
the chapter on "The Eelations of Water to the Soil," 
the second bane of desert land, "alkali," being next in 
order. 




CHAPTEE IV. 

ALKALI SOILS; THEIR NATURE, TREATMENT AND 
RECLAMATION. 

The '^alkalis," as they are called, are common to all 
soils wherever they may be found on the globe; they 
belong to earth and are part of its essential constituents. 

Originally, they were brought or carried into the 
soil along with the other elements which form its in- 
organic bulk (as has been explained in Chapter II), 
by the pulverization of rocks and minerals, the deposi- 
tion of inorganic sediment held in solution by water, 
by glacial action, by seepage from rivers, and numerous 
other ways. 

These elements, if unacted upon, would forever 
remain in an insoluble, inert condition, incapable of 
exerting any influence upon each other, or of perform- 
ing any functions whatever; in which case, however, 
there could not be any plant life of any kind. But 
nature comes in and begins action upon these elements 
and changes their form so that they may become capable 
of aiding in the production of plants by furnishing 
them with the food to make them grow and ripen their 
fruit or seed. 

First, we have the atmosphere, or air, which, how- 
ever arid the region, contains oxygen in a very large 
proportion, and this oxygen attacks the inorganic ele- 
ments, transforming them into various substances, or 
rather fits them to be acted upon by other substances so 
that they may become useful or otherwise. Thus, 
oxygen acts upon potash, soda, lime and magnesia to 
form what are known as "alkaline bases,'' that is, the 
foundations for the "salts," which are beneficial in mod- 
erate quantities but injurious in excess. The forces of 
nature are always at work, regardless of the quantity 
of the product; certain laws are followed, and these 
laws keep on operating in certain unvarying ways, ac- 
cording to a fixed program, which is never changed un- 

41 



42 The Primer of Irrigation. 

less man comes in and compels a change. The follow- 
ing table will enable the reader to understand in a gen- 
eral way how nature works upon the elements in the 
soil through oxygen: 

OXYGEN 

Unites with Potassium and forms Potash. 

Unites with Sodium and forms Soda. 

Unites with Calcium and forms Lime. 

Unites with Magnesium and forms Magnesia. 

The oxygen acts upon the above four metals just 
as it does on iron exposed to the air, when it forms the 
familiarly known ^^rust," which is technically called 
"oxide of iron." So the potash, soda, lime and mag- 
nesia are really the earth oxides, the four of them 
being "alkaline bases," that is, the foundations upon 
which to compound all the various kinds of alkalis. 

These "oxides," or "bases," in themselves, would 
be of very little use or harm while in that state, but the 
oxygen in the air and everywhere else attacks the other 
essential elements in the soil as well as the potash, 
soda, lime and magnesia, that is, the silicon, carbon, 
sulphur and phosphorus, but instead of converting them 
into oxides, or alkaline bases, turns them into "acids." 
The following table will explain: 

OXYGEN 

Unites with Silicon and forms Silicic Acid. 
Unites with Carbon and forms Carbonic Acid. 
Unites with Sulphur and forms Sulphuric Acid. 
Unites with Phosphorus and forms Phosphoric Acid. 

Here is where the whole trouble about alkali soils 
begins, for these acids mentioned in the last table, 
which may be called mineral, or metalic, acids, have a 
great affinity for the alkaline bases mentioned in the 
first table, and greedily seize upon them, forming 
"salts," as they are commonly called. When these min- 
eral acids attack the alkaline bases, this is what happens : 



Alkali Soils, 43 

Silicic Acid froms Silicate of Potash, Soda, Lime and 

Magnesia. 
Carbonic Acid forms Carbonate of Potash, Soda, Lime 

and Magnesia. 
Sulphuric Acid forms Sulphate of Potash, Soda, Lime 

and Magnesia. 
Phosphoric Acid forms Phosphate of Potash, Soda, 

Lime and Magnesia. 

It is the carbonate of soda, or what is commonly 
called "sal soda," which makes "black alkali land," and 
sulphate of soda, or "Glauber salt," which constitutes 
"white alkali land." There are numerous other salts 
formed by combining the alkaline bases and the min- 
eral acids, but sufficient are given here to make the 
principle clear; to enumerate the others would require 
a volume, and complicate too. much the idea sought to 
be conveyed in this book. Moreover, their action is the 
same as the sodas, though in a much less harmful de- 
gree. 

So far, water has been kept in the background, as 
unnecessary to the formation of these salts, but when 
water is brought in the distribution of these alkaline 
salts is largely aided, for the alkalis are extremely 
soluble in water, the latter taking up nearly its own 
weight of the salts. When this happens, the alkalis 
are carried wherever the water penetrates, and when 
it comes to the surface it evaporates into the atmos- 
phere, but leaves the alkali salts behind to accumulate, 
until the soil is ruined for purposes of vegetation un- 
less they are removed, or got rid of in some way and 
the soil thus "reclaimed," as it is called. 

In this inorganic matter, plant life is impossible. 
As has already been said, organic matter in combination 
with the inorganic matter, is essential to plants of any 
kind, and here originates a phenomenon as common as 
the continual process of the formation of alkalis by 
combinations with the mineral, or metallic, acids, as 



44 The Primer of Irrigation. 

above specified. Organic matter also combines to form 
acids which are called ^^vegetable acids/' and they also 
readily combine with the alkaline bases, the result of 
which is mutual destruction. This will be understood 
from a simple experiment that any reader can try. 

Vinegar is the most commonly known vegetable 
acid, the technical name of which is "acetic acid/' it 
being formed during the germination of seeds in the 
ground, as will be explained in the chapter on Plant 
Foods. The plant forms it within its tissues and then 
rejects it for the purpose of permitting it to continue 
dissolving the earthy substances with which it is in 
contact. It is also formed artificially for domestic use. 
Now this vinegar is the natural enemy of the alkalis. 
When poured upon any of the alkalis of potash, soda, 
or magnesia, it causes a hissing or effervescence. When 
this ceases, there is left neither an alkali nor acid, both 
have disappeared, and their substances are totally 
changed into something else, a new salt' called an 
"acetate,'' which is neither one thing or the other ; they 
have mutually destroyed each other. 

These acetates are not noxious to plants, and ap- 
pear to be freely created by the plant itself during the 
process of developing acetic acid, which is essential for 
the purpose of transforming starch into sugar, whether 
of the cane or grape variety, and for laying the founda- 
tion of woody fiber and cellular tissues, all of which, 
alkali tends to prevent if in excess. It is well known 
from actual experience that sugar bearing plants, such 
as sorghum, sugar beets, and trees of abundant starch 
and woody fiber will flourish luxuriantly in alkali soils 
that will not even permit the germination of cereals, or 
alfalfa. The reason why this is so is not far to seek, 
and when well understood the partial reclamation of 
alkali lands, even under adverse conditions, may be at- 
tained, and wholly so where the conditions are opposed 
to the accumulations of alkali from artificial sources. 



Alkali Soils. 45 

DANGEROUS PERCENTAGE OF ALKALI. 

There is much controversy about the dangerous 
amount of alkalis in arable soils, but the entire ques- 
tion may be resolved into four divisions : 

First — Soils naturally so heavily charged with 
alkali as to be worthless. 

Second — Soils in which the alkali is increased by 
fortuitous or artificial means. 

Third — Alkali soils suitable for general crops. 

Fourth — Alkali soils adapted only to certain special 
classes of plants. 

The sodas are the most dangerous of the alkalis, 
both the carbonate, or "sal soda,'' which is the cause 
of "black alkali land,'' and the sulphate, or "Glauber 
salts," which is the deposit on most of the "white alkali 
lands," because they are so very easily soluble in water, 
whereas the sulphate of lime, or "gypsum," and all the 
other sulphates, and the phosphates, are very much less 
soluble in water. The consequence is, the soda alkalis 
are always shifting their location, always following the 
water, because the latter takes them up greedily when- 
ever they are brought in contact, whether on the sur- 
face or in the subsoil, or under the influence of seepage 
which carries the alkalis from a higher to a lower level. 
The tendency of water when in motion, or flowing, is 
first downward, it leaches, or percolates through the 
soil, but after it has become stationary, that is, when 
it does not find an outlet through drainage, either nat- 
ural or artificial, it begins an upward movement toward 
the surface through capillary action, and carries with it 
the alkalis it contains in solution, evaporates and leaves 
the salts on the surface. It is not difficult to under- 
stand how the alkalis accumulate in the soil, the diffi- 
culty begins when the attempt is made to remove them 
and fit the soil for plant life. 

As the amount of alkali deposited in the soil in- 
creases, the number of species or varieties of plants de- 
creases. Where soils are charged with an excess of 



46 The Primer of Irrigation. 

alkalis by fortuitous or artificial means, the reader will 
understand that the excess has been added to the natural 
supply by the flooding of rains, or by irrigation. The 
alkali has not been washed out of the soil by the water, 
it has been carried into it by water charged with the 
soluble salts, directly, or by seepage from irrigating 
ditches. In either case, deep cultivation, surface, or 
sub-drainage, will tend to restore the soil to its normal 
condition. Moreover, it is not difficult to wash out of 
the soil the elements necessary to plant life through the 
application of water, and, inasmuch as the alkalis are 
more soluble than any of the plant foods, it should be 
less difficult to eliminate the former by the same process 
that carried them into the soil, intelligently applied. 

One per cent of alkali salts in an average soil one 
foot deep equals 40,946 pounds dry, and 55,146 pounds 
wet, too great a quantity for the successful growth of 
cereals, although the soil may be very rich in all the 
other plant foods, which is generally the case in all 
alkali soils, and this percentage will prevent the growth 
of trees, bushes, vines and root crops in general. Some- 
times the alkali is near the surface, in the first two 
inches of it; indeed, the tendency of the alkalis is 
toward the surface, in this case the one per cent of 
alkali would mean a weight of the salts in a foot deep 
acre of only about 6,824 pounds dry, or 9,191 pounds 
wet, a quantity not in excess if distributed uniformly 
through the soil. But lying at the immediate surface, 
the cereal grains cannot germinate, or if they do the 
young and tender plants perish from thirst, literally, 
the alkalis absorbing all the water around them, al- 
though there may be plenty of untainted water in the 
subsoil, in which case deep plowing and turning the 
soil over will furnish a top soil in which the seeds may 
germinate and reach a growth able to resist the alkali 
turned under. In fact, the roots of the plants will 
reach beyond the alkali, for the latter will then have 
again sought the surface, where it can do no harm. 



Alkali Soils. 47 

Alfalfa, for instance, will grow in a moderately 
alkaline soil, because the long tap roots penetrate to the 
subsoil depths, where there is less alkali. Moreover, the 
thick growth and luxuriant foliage shade the ground 
and prevent evaporation, which is the handmaid of 
alkali deposits. 

All soils showing less than one-fifth of one per 
cent of alkali salts, that is, less than 9,000 pounds to 
the foot acre dry, or 12,000 pounds wet, may be consid- 
ered safe for all kinds of crops, and there will never 
be any danger from excess of alkalis, so long as good 
water is used and the land well drained and cultivated. 
When the alkali goes beyond one-fifth to two-fifths per 
cent, general crops fail, as a rule, and spots begin to 
show when cultivated. And when the alkali reaches 
four-tenths and six-tenths of one per cent, while gen- 
eral crops will not grow, sweet clover and the common 
run of fleshy, scented and sugary plants will grow and 
produce large crops, but must be harvested early in the 
case of forage plants, as has already been said, else they 
will become bitter and uneatable. 

There are, as has been said, about 197 species of 
plants which possess a great affinity for alkali and will 
luxuriate in masses of it where all other vegetation fails 
to gain a foothold. Thus, greasewood, or creosote bush, 
will flourish in a soil containing 194,760 pounds of 
alkali salts per acre one foot deep, which is more than 
four per cent of alkali. Scrub salt bush will grow in 
soil containing 78,240 pounds per acre, equal to about 
one and one-half per cent. Samphire luxuriates in soil 
containing 306,000 pounds of alkali per acre, or about 
six per cent. Wheat, however, will not grow where the 
soil contains a total of 20,520 poimds of the sulphates, 
carbonates, chlorides and nitrates of soda and potash 
per acre one foot deep, which is less than one-half of one 
per cent of the weight of the soil. 



48 The Primer of Irrigation. 

ATTEMPTS AT RECLAMATION. 

It is impossible to establish any rule or set of rules 
for the adaptation of alkali lands to profitable crops. 
The natural growth of numerous varieties and species 
of plants on strong alkalis is of very little moment to 
the farmer, his main inquiry being: How shall I get 
rid of the excess of alkali? The whole object of culti- 
vating the soil is to compel it to produce something 
useful as well as profitable, otherwise it is labor lost to 
put a plow in the ground. But in the arid and semi- 
arid lands the soil may be exceedingly fertile for general 
crops, and after cultivation and irrigation may become 
so impregnated with alkali as to lose that fertility in 
spite of the quantities of essential plant food still in 
the soil. 

Where this calamity overtakes the farmer he can 
not very well wander about and take up a new location 
on fresh land and again go through the same experi- 
ence. He must remain rooted to the soil, so to speak, 
and use all the information he can gather to restore his 
land to its normal condition, or so much of it as has 
gone wrong. It is a well-known saying: '^All signs 
fail in dry weather," and there are several others equally 
as apt. Some say: "It is useless to pray for rain with 
the wind from the wrong quarter," or, "It is a dry 
moon, and the horns up won't let the water out." In 
the case of alkali soils there are no apt sayings, but 
there ought to be one, and a very good one seems to be : 
"Alkali laughs at the established methods of cultivating 
the soil." 

When crops begin to look "sick," and black or 
white patches appear here and there, the reason is not 
far to seek: alkali is at work. The subsoil may be 
alkaline; there may be a stratum of hard pan which 
prevents the water with its solution of alkalis from 
leaching down through beyond the reach of the roots; 
the irrigation water may contain a large percentage of 



Alkali Soils. 49 

alkali in solution, and, coming to the surface, carry its 
alkali along with it; there may be an irrigation ditch 
above and beyond, or a stream, or reservoir, from which 
the water seeps and comes up wherever it can find an 
outlet. In all these cases, and there are many others, 
except where the soil is naturally strongly alkaline, he 
looks for the cause, and he finds it in fortuitous or acci- 
dental additions of alkali. Excess of alkali has been 
carried )nto the soil, and he first stops any further ar- 
rivals. The beginning of a remedy is the same in the 
case of a thousand or more acres as in the case of but 
one, there is merely a difference in extent of operations. 
Then the alkali having got into the soil, he quite nat- 
urally thinks that it may be got out in the same way it 
got in. This is true as to methods. It drains or seeps 
in; let it drain and seep out. It came to the surface 
with the water through capillary action, therefore let 
that capillary action be stopped or impeded. The water 
from the subsoil evaporating at the surface left the 
alkalis behind to interfere with plant life, hence, if that 
evaporation be prevented or reduced, there will be no 
more, or, at least, less surface deposits. 

Without stopping to consider drainage, which re- 
quires a chapter of its own, there are two conditions or 
processes which are keys that nearly fit the situation: 
cultivation and rotation of crops. 

Cultivation serves a double purpose ; that of break- 
ing up the uniform capillary spaces in the soil and pre- 
venting the rise of the water from the subsoil to the 
surface, and that of covering the ground with a layer 
of dry soil, or a mulch, that prevents evaporation. In- 
deed, there are cases where frequent cultivation, or 
stirring up of the soil, have reduced the accumulations 
of alkali to one-third the amount on uncultivated land. 
As to its preventing evaporation, every farmer is too 
well acquainted with the effect of cultivation as a con- 
servative of the moisture in the soil not to know this 
thoroughly. 



50 The Primer of Irrigation. 

The incorporation of organic matter in the soil, 
such as stable manure, leaves, straw, plowing under a 
crop of weeds, or green manure, tends to break up the 
capillary pores in the soil and retard the upward move- 
ment of the subsoil water. But this retarding process 
is much greater if this organic matter is spread over the 
ground in a uniform layer or mulch. This method 
alone has saved many an orchard when an adjoining one 
in the same kind of soil was perishing from an excess 
of alkali. 

It should not be forgotten that it is water that dis- 
solves the alkalis, not moisture. For which reason the 
water in the subsoil must be kept below the surface at 
least three, four, five and six feet, according to the soil 
and the crops. It is the standing water below the sur- 
face which soaks up the salts, and they must be drained 
away until the water table will not send up water, but 
moisture only, a sort of subsoil evaporation, to coin an 
expression, the water coming up as wet vapor, or merely 
wetness, leaving its salts behind, they being unable to 
follow unless held in solution. 

As soon as water from rain or irrigation begins to 
fill the soil, the standing water below with its alkalis in 
solution commences to rise, but by keeping this subsoil 
water at a depth of five or six feet, and thus allowing 
an easy movement of moisture through the land, the 
work of reclamation is easily attained. Here is where 
the rotation of crops may be called upon to aid. The 
farmer has been growing wheat, barley, small fruits, 
corn, etc., and the soil has become so impregnated with 
alkali as to prevent the growth of any more similar 
crops. Now when he is leaching the alkalis out of the 
soil he plants gross feeders, plants that have an affinity 
for alkali. Sorghum and sugar beets are recommended 
for correctives of alkali soils, but there are many other 
plants that may be used for the same purpose, such as 
asparagus, onions, sweet clover, and among the fruits, 
pears, figs, pomegranates and date palms, all of which 



Alkali Soils. 51 

withstand the action of alkalis which would kill cereals 
and small fruits. 

The reason is that all sugar-producing plants re- 
quire large quantities of alkali, particularly the carbon- 
ates, for starch is produced by the decomposition of 
carbonic acid, which the plant breathes in through its 
leaves, and takes up from the soil through its roots. 
Now, taking the carbon out of the alkalis renders them 
innocous, just the same as does vinegar or acetic acid, 
which is also always forming in plants that produce 
sugar. Not to be misunderstood, it may be well to say 
here that this starch is transformed into sugar, woody 
fiber and cellular tissue. When it comes to raising 20 
to 40 tons of sugar beets per acre, carrying 17 to 22 per 
cent of sugar, and reflect that 100 parts of the green 
syrup of sugar beets carbonated show 9.18 per cent of 
alkali ashes, and that the leaves and root fibers will 
show nearly as much more, it is a simple sum in arith- 
metic to demonstrate that it will not take many such 
crops to remove the alkalis, and make it necessary to add 
more voluntarily as a fertilizer. Indeed, in non-alkali 
soils it is necessary to add alkalis as fertilizers in culti- 
vating beets. Within two or three years the alkali- 
devouring plants will have removed so much of the 
alkali from the soil that barley and wheat can be intro- 
duced, and afterward a good stand of alfalfa secured. 
All of these attempts at reclamation are, in the opinion 
of the author, equivalent to a rotation of crops, since 
they benefit and strengthen the soil by taking away 
elements that certain plants do not require, as well as 
add those which they need. 

The following general rules to follow in reclaiming 
alkali soil may be considered as a recapitulation of what 
has been said in this chapter, and in all the authorities 
on the subject : 

First — Insure good and rapid drainage to a depth 
of three or four feet, in which case flooding the land 



62 The Primer of Irrigation. 

with water is a simple and sure method of washing out 
the alkali. 

Second — Plow deep ; say, twelve inches. 

Third — Furrow land and plant sorghum in the bot- 
tom of the furrows. Irrigate heavily, and gradually 
cultivate down the ridges to uniformity. 

Fourth — After two years in sorghum (or sugar 
beets, etc.) — deeply plowed each year and cultivated 
frequently — plant barley. Have the surface of the 
ground well leveled, and flood heavily before planting. 

Fifth — Seed to any desired crop, for if the land is 
at all porous a stand of any ordinary crop can be se- 
cured, except in the worst spots. 

What has been said with reference to the black and 
white alkalis, is applicable to the other alkali salts, the 
chlorides (common salt, etc.), nitrates, muriates, etc., 
most of which are beneficial and necessary to plants in 
reasonable quantities, but deleterious and destructive in 
excess, but, we repeat, not so dangerous as the sodas. 

The processes of chemical transformations are al- 
ways going on in nature, and every soil, together with 
the plants or crops growing upon it, constitute a vast 
laboratory, in which materials of an almost infinite 
variety are in a constant state of manufacture, and by 
acquiring even a superficial knowledge of what nature 
is doing and trying to do, man will be better able to di- 
vert nature in his direction to his profit. Nature is 
perfectly willing that this should be done, and if she is 
diverted from her purposes and does too much or too 
little, it is because the man behind the plow is looking 
the other way. 

Adobe soils and the hardpans have been reserved 
for another chapter, as having a closer relation to drain- 
age, water, and cultivation, than to arid lands. Adobe 
is a peculiar kind of clay of several varieties, and the 
hardpans, though sometimes arable, in general resemble 
the cement plaster which has been found unimpaired in 



Alkali Soils* 53 

the pyramids and temples of Egypt after thousands of 
years' exposure to the elements. 

It is reasonable to suppose that plants which will 
grow in heavily charged alkali soils, do so because they 
have an affinity for the alkaline salts, and take up large 
quantities of them. Whence it is clear that, by con- 
tinually growing, cutting and removing this '^alkali 
vegetation," the excess salts in the soil will be gradually 
eliminated, and thus the soil be fitted for the growth of 
other desired plants. This is the law and the gospel in 
the case of the commonly known "salt meadows," of 
which there are estimated to be in the United States 
over one hundred thousand square miles. The attempt 
to reclaim these lands in this manner has proved suc- 
cessful in Germany and Holland, and has passed beyond 
the mere experimental stage in the United States. 
Wherefore the query : Is not the same law applicable to 
the overcharged alkali lands of the arid and semi-arid 
regions ? 




CHAPTER V. 

RELATIONS OF WATER TO THE SOIL. 

When a small portion of soil is thoroughly dried 
and then spread out on a sheet of paper in the open air 
it will gradually drink in watery vapor from the atmos- 
phere and thus increase its weight to a perceptible de- 
gree. In hot climates and during dry seasons this prop- 
erty of absorption in the soil is of great importance re- 
storing, as it does, to the thirsty ground, and bringing 
within reach of plants, a part of the moisture they 
have so copiously exhaled during the day. Different 
soils possess this property in unequal degrees. During a 
night of twelve hours, for it is at night that watery vapor 
is deposited on the ground (evaporation from the soil 
occurring during the day), 1,000 pounds of perfectly 
dry soil will absorb the following quantities of moisture 
in pounds. 

Quartz sand 

Calcareous sand 2 

Loamy soil 21 

Clay loams 25 

Pure clay 27 

Peaty soils and those rich in vegetable matters will 
absorb a much larger quantity from the atmosphere, 
sometimes becoming "wet" two inches deep, a surpris- 
ing quantity of water when the weight of it on an acre 
of ground is calculated. The weight of dry and wet 
soils has already been given, and the difference between 
the two will, of course, show the quantity in weight of 
the moisture or water absorbed. The average weight 
of dry soils is about 94 pounds, the average ordinary 
wet weight is 126 pounds, the difference, being 32 
pounds, represents the average weight of water per cubic 
foot. ]^ow, multiplying 43,560 square feet in the acre 
by 32, gives 1,393,920 pounds to the acre one foot deep, 
and dividing by 12 to ascertain the weight of one inch, 
we have 116,160 pounds, or about 58 tons of water 

64 



Relations of Water to the Soil. 56 

falling on an acre of ground in the shape of dew in a 
single night. Of course that quantity represents the 
highest possible absorptive quality in a heavily charged 
vegetable soil. Other soils would receive a less quantity 
as will be readily understood, but there is enough to 
be equivalent to quite a smart shower and worth en- 
couraging. 

In what are known as "dry" climates there is 
always some moisture in the atmosphere which is de- 
posited upon the soil, for wherever there are oxygen 
and hydrogen there must be moisture. But the quan- 
tities vary in climates as much as they do in soils. 
Where there is evaporation from the soil moisture dur- 
ing the day there is also a re-absorption of moisture by 
the soil at night and, with this fact in mind, it may be 
laid down as an axiom: The tendency of water is to 
evaporate from the soil into the atmosphere during the 
day and to fall back upon the soil during the night. To 
reduce the idea to an axiom : A dry soil has an affinity 
for a moist atmosphere, and a dry atmosphere loves a 
moist soil. 

SATURATION AND POWER TO RETAIN MOISTURE. 

The rain falls and is drunk in by the thirsty soil ; 
the dew descends and is absorbed, and the waters of 
irrigation poured upon the ground quickly disappear. 
But after much water falls upon the earth the latter be- 
comes saturated, can hold no more, and the surplus 
runs off the surface or sinks down through until it 
reaches the water table. This happens more speedily 
in some soils than in others. Thus, 100 pounds of dry 
soils, as here specified, will hold the quantity of water 
set opposite their respective names without dripping or 
running off. 

Quartz sand .'25 pounds 

Calcareous sand 29 pounds 

Loamy soil 40 pounds 

Clay loam 50 pounds 

Pure clay .• 70 pounds 



56 The Primer of Irrigation. 

But dry, peaty soils and adobe will absorb a much 
larger proportion before becoming saturated to the drip- 
ping point; sometimes such soils will absorb their own 
weight of water. Arable soils generally will hold from 
forty to seventy per cent of their weight of water. 

This power of retaining water renders such a soil 
valuable in dry climates. But the more water the soil 
contains in its pores the greater the evaporation and 
the colder it is likely to be. Indeed, evaporation is a 
source of cold, sometimes to so great a degree that ice 
will be formed. In very hot regions in India where 
ice is inacessible it is customary to place small, shallow 
saucers filled with water on the ground after nightfall, 
and they are gathered in the morning before sunrise, 
the water being converted into ice by the rapid evapora- 
tion from the soil during the night. Our modern ice 
machines owe their efficacy for making ice to the rapid 
evaporation of ammonia under pressure. Ether, chloro- 
form, alcohol, and numerous other substances, produce 
a sensation of cold when rubbed on the skin, which is 
not due to anything in those substances, but wholly to 
their rapid evaporation or volatility. The presence of a 
saturation of water in the soil, however, excludes the 
air in a great degree and thus is injurious to plants, 
whose roots must have air as well as moisture, hence 
the necesity for drainage where there is a liability to 
saturation. 

Unless rain or dew is falling or the air is saturated 
with moisture, watery vapor is constantly arising from 
the surface of the earth. The fields, after the heaviest 
rains and fioods. gradually become dry, and this takes 
place more rapidly in some fields or parts of fields than 
in others, in fact, wet and dry patches of ground may be 
seen on the same field, indicating a heavy or light soil. 
Generally speaking, those soils capable of containing 
the largest portion of the rain that falls also retains it 
with greater obstinacy and require a longer time to 
dry. The same thing happens when the land is irri- 



Relations of Water to the Soil. 57 

gated. Thus, sand will become as dry in one hour as 
pure clay in three, or peat in four hours. 

There is one fact every irrigator should constantly 
bear in mind and that is: Water saturation of the soil 
is never necessary to plant life ; it is, in fact, positively 
injurious except in the case of acquatic plants. A long 
time ago men, seeing rice growing luxuriantly in 
swamps, imagined that plant would not grow anywhere 
else, and, accordingly, rice culture meant a swamp. But 
it was discovered that rice would grow better and pro- 
duce a larger and richer crop in arable soil generally, 
and now it is cultivated with astonishing success the 
same as wheat, barley, or any other cereal, except for 
a short period of flooding, 

Nature, through heavy rains and other water 
sources, converts the soil into a storage reservoir by 
establishing a water table beneath the surface from 
which the water vaporizing up constantly moistens the 
growing stratum of the soil, decomposes and dissolves 
the salts which are necessary to plant life, and is itself 
decomposed by the principle of life in the plant and 
its elements, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen, utilized 
in the interior of the plant itself. Where there is no 
natural supply of water for this storage purpose irriga- 
tion must copy nature and provide one, or at least 
furnish an adequate supply of moisture for solvent pur- 
poses. When that has been done ever5rfching has been 
done that should be done. 

A familiar illustration of the action of moisture 
may be witnessed in the slaking of lime in the open air 
without the direct application of water. The same 
transformation takes place in the case of all the other 
soluble mineral salts when in the presence of moisture. 
This transformation eifected, the plant thrives, and, to 
give it an excess of dissolving liquid is to float off the 
material needed by the plant and thus deprive it of its 
nourishment. It is like feeding an infant on thin, 
weak soup instead of nourishing bouillon and expecting 
it to thrive. 



58 The Printer of Irrigation. 

EVAPORATION FROM PLANTS. 

The tendency of plants is to exhale or perspire 
moisture as well as the soil. The flow of the sap is con- 
stant from the roots to the leaves to receive oxygen and 
carbonic acid and back again to the roots; like the 
circulation of the blood in animals it travels in a cir- 
cuit. When the sap reaches the leaves it parts with a 
portion of its water, and in some plants the quantity is 
very considerable. An experiment with a sunflower, 
three and one-half feet high, disclosed the fact that its 
leaves lost during twelve hours of one day, 30, and of 
another, 20 ounces of water, while during a warm night, 
without dew, it lost only three ounces, and, on a dewy 
night, lost none. 

All this evaporation or exhalation of water from 
the leaves of plants is supplied by the moisture in the 
soil, for plants generally do not drink in water through 
their leaves but through their roots, and when the 
escape of water from the leaves is more rapid than the 
supply from the roots the leaves droop, dry and wither, 
because then they are drawing from their sap, living, 
so to speak, upon their own blood. This evaporation 
in the plant is similar to the perspiration constantly 
exuding from the skins of healthy animals and it has 
added to it the mechanical evaporation which takes 
place on the surface of all moist bodies when exposed to 
hot or dry air. There can be no growth or health 
without it, hence, it is often beneficial to wash or spray 
the leaves of plants and trees to remove the dust or 
other clogging material that has accumulated upon the 
leaves and ^^stopped perspiration." To stop this leaf 
evaporation is to kill the plant as surely as was killed 
the boy in the Eoman pageant. His entire body was 
covered with a thick coating of gum arable, on which 
was laid a layer of gold leaf, the intention being to 
have him pose as a golden statue. He died in a 
few hours and it was not until the cause of his sudden 
death was investigated by scientific men that it was 



Relations of Water to the Soil. 59 

discovered that the closing of the pores of the skin 
thereby preventing evaporation from its surface, was 
the cause. On dry, dusty soils, where there is none, or 
very little rainfall, the accumulation of dew during the 
night IS generally sufficient to "trickle" along the leaves 
and carry down the dust and other accumulations on 
the leaves which interfere with evaporation. Some- 
times the plant, as if aware that there is a stoppage 
m its circulation, will throw out fresh, new leaves to 
cure the defect, but this is done at the expense of the 
root, tuber, or fruit. 

The amount of loss due to natural and mechanical 
evaporation from plants, of course, differs very greatly 
m the various species of plants depending, in a great 
measure, on the special structure of the leaf, whether 
hne or coarse meshed, large or small, lean or fleshy, 
the natural perspiration, however, always exceeding the 
mechanical. Both processes, moreover, are more rapid 
under the influence of a warm, dry atmosphere aided 
by the direct rays of the sun. 

As showing the quantity of evaporation an experi- 
ment was tried with an acre of maple trees containing 
640 trees The calculation is not positively exact, but 
It is worth accepting as a basis for other experiments 
on crops of all kinds and may come somewhere near 
enabling the irrigator to determine the quantity of 
water to be applied to the soil, whether there is a water 
table withm the reach of the surface or none at all 

^ The evaporation was assumed to take place only 
during a day of twelve hours and each of the 640 trees 
was estimated as carrying 31,193 leaves. From an esti- 
mate based on the quantity of evaporation from one tree 
containing the number of leaves above specified, which 
were carefully counted, the 640 trees evaporated from 

Qi nnn "^^^ ? ^^^""^ ^^^^^ ^'^^^ g^l^^^s of water, or 
^i,UUO pouiids. During ninety-two twelve-hour days, 

o oL^n ^^^^^ ^^^^' *^^ evaporation would amount 
to x?,852,000 pounds. During that period the rainfall 



60 The Primer of Irrigation. 

was 8.333 inches or 43.8 pounds to every square foot 
of surface, equal, per acre of 43,560 square feet, to 
1,890,504 pounds. The evaporation from the leaves 
of the trees, therefore, exceeded that of the actual fall 
of rain by nearly one million pounds. Whence did the 
surplus come? Evidently from the water stored in 
the water table and drawn up by the action of the roots 
of the trees. Where there is no water table or ground 
water and the soil is dry "all the way down,^^ it is 
necessary to create one by irrigation and this is not so 
difficult as might be imagined, for we must consider 
that in the case of maple trees the roots may reach 
down into the subsoil for fifty feet, and in the case of 
ordinary fruits, vegetables, and cereals, a water table 
at that depth would be wholly unnecessary even if gen- 
erally impracticable. Soil saturation at any depth 
beyond four feet with unlimited surface cultivation is 
sufficient, although in the case of vines and trees it 
should be much deeper. 

The above experiment with the maple trees al- 
though, perhaps, of no practical value on account of 
its uncertainty, being more or less guess, demonstrates 
two things, when there is also taken into consideration 
the quantity of sap in plants and the amount of salts 
held in solution in it. 

First — How easily a soil may be exhausted by cut- 
ting and removing plants and crops therefrom. 

Second — As a direct corollary, through its diametric 
opposite, it shows how easily alkaline salts may be re- 
moved from the soil by cutting and removing the plants 
and crops. These alkali-consuming plants hold large 
quantities of the earth salts in their sap in solution, the 
carbonates, sulphates, the sodas, and potash, literally 
taken up out of the soil. Of course, when removed a 
certain amount of alkali is removed with them. This 
has been the experience with the "salt meadows" in 
Germany and Holland, and in the United States, as has 
been already noted, and, in a small way, with the alkali 



Relations of Water to the Soil. 61 

lands of the West where the experiment has been made. 

CAPILLARY POWER OF SOIL. 

When water is poured into the saucer or sole of a 
flower-pot filled with earth the soil gradually sucks it up 
and becomes moist even to the surface. This is what 
is known as "capillary action/^ and exists in all porous 
bodies to a greater or less extent. A sponge is a well- 
known instance of this power, and if the small end of a 
piece of hard chalk be held in water the entire mass 
soon becomes saturated. The experiment with the 
flower-pot, however, represents the action in the soil 
the water from beneath— that contained in the sub-soil 
---IS gradually sucked up to the surface. It is one of 
the operations of the laws of nature which maintains 
all things m constant motion to preserve their life and 
vitality, for, if permitted to remain at rest without 
motion, they sicken and die, afterward putrefying as 
happens even with water which becomes stagnant, that 
is, ceases to be in motion. 

In climates where there is winter, or even a moder- 
ate degree of cold weather, this capillarv action ceases 
and the tendency of the water is to "soak" downward 
and it IS not until warm weather that capillary action • 
begins and the water commences "soaking" upward 
toward the surface. In a warm, or hot climate, this 
action is constant and it also takes place whenever the 
soil IS parched or dry. 

This suspension of capillary action in winter or 
cold weather, furnishes a strong point in favor of winter 
irrigation, which really takes the place of the autumn 
and spring rams, and of the snow that slowly melts 
and its waters carried down into the soil to the water 
table ready to begin an upward movement when the 
weather becomes warm and the surface soil dry. 

The dryer the soil and the hotter the atmosphere, 
the more rapid is the rising of the water to the surface 
by capillary attraction, and, as the water ascends, it car- 
ries along with it the saline matters dissolved by it and 



62 The Primer of Irrigation. 

reaching the surface, evaporates, leaving the salts it 
carried behind. It is this capillary action which has in- 
crusted our own lands with alkalis of all kinds ; it is the 
same in India, Egypt, South Africa, and elsewhere. 
On the arid plains of Peru, and on extensive tracts in 
South Africa, alkali deposits, several feet in thickness, 
are sometimes met with, all of which are caused by the 
capillary action of water bringing up to the surface 
the salts in the subsoil. So it is that the enormous beds 
of nitrate of soda in Peru and those of the carbonate of 
soda in Colombia were created; and in our own black 
and white alkali and sodium bad lands capillary action 
may be blamed for their condition. It must not be for- 
gotten that wherever there is seepage there is also cap- 
illary action, for that power is exercised in every direc- 
tion. It does not matter which end of the sponge or 
piece of chalk is held to the water, both become sat- 
urated. It may be said that capillary action is a viola- 
tion of the law of gravity, or, rather, is a law of itself 
acting independently. 

This tendency of water to ascend to the surface of 
the earth is not the same in all soils. It is less rapid 
in stiff clays and more rapid in sandy and open, porous 
soils generally, and it is of especial importance in rela- 
tion to the position of the water table in the soil when 
considered as a source of water supply or shallow root- 
ing plants. Gravity draws the water downward toward 
a water table, and in a dry subsoil it is capillary attrac- 
tion that impels it down. But when the water in the 
surface soil is less than that below an upward movement 
begins as though nature were desirous of maintaining 
an equilibrium which, scientifically speaking, it always 
does, or attempts to do. However, there is a zone of 
capillary action, a space between the water table and the 
surface, in which moisture rises and with it carries 
food substances to the roots of plants. Where the water it- 
self rises it means more than capillary attraction, it means 
a rise of the water table through additions from some 



Relations of Water to the Soil, 68 

new water supply or saturation of the soil, in which 
case plants are injured vitally and drainage must come 
to the rescue. It is the rise of the water table that is 
to be feared in irrigation. The reason is because the 
rise of alkaline solutions is greater than in the case of 
pure water. Thus, a 50 per cent solution of sodium 
chloride (common salt) and sodium sulphate will rise 
faster than pure water, and a much stronger concentra- 
tion of soda carbonate will rise still faster. Hence 
the necessity of preventing soil saturation and the main- 
taining of a zone of capillary action, in which the roots 
of plants may be fed by material furnished through 
that action when they would be killed if saturation 
were permitted to overcome it. 

A few practical ideas may be gathered from the 
foregoing which are worth considering: 

First — It is evident that deep plowing will enable 
the rainfall or the irrigation water to penetrate deeper 
into the soil, in which case it will remain longer and the 
effects of a small quantity of rain may extend over a 
period long enough to mature a crop where half as 
much again would show nothing. 

Second — To be effective and beneficial to vegeta- 
tion the water in the subsoil must be in constant motion. 
When water ceases to flow in the subsoil streams, or 
when capillary action is entirely suspended, the water 
becomes stagnant, ceases to imbibe oxygen, nitrogen and 
carbonic acid, and practically rots, causing vegetation 
within its influence also to decay. Running water com- 
ing from the clouds or irrigating ditch enters the soil 
charged with gaseous matters above specified, mixed in 
their proper proportions, and carries along with it vari- 
ous dissolved inorganic substances which are not per- 
mitted to be deposited out of it while it is in motion. 
Hence, to derive the full benefit of the water, the land 
must be drained even where irrigation is practiced, so 
that the surplus water, after irrigation is stopped, may 
find a ready outlet. If there should be no surplus, no 



M The Primer of Irrigation. 

harm is done by drainage facilities; on the contrary, 
the tendency of all drainage is to open the soil below 
and "draw" the moisture from above as well as to carry 
off the surplus water in a soaked subsoil if there be one. 
Drainage does not carry off moisture, but only the sur- 
plus water; capillary attraction will always hold the 
moisture. 

Third — Whenever sufficient water is added to the 
soil to compensate for loss by evaporation from soil 
and plant, the business of the irrigator is accomplished. 
To keep on adding, to soak the soil continually, would 
be to injure vegetation as much as by furnishing too 
little water, as it is only by keeping the surface soil 
loose and finely pulverized — the deeper the better — that 
evaporation from the soil may be retarded. 

As to the quality of the water the more impure it 
is, particularly in organic matter, the better it is for 
vegetation. There is no more impure water in the world 
than that of the river Nile, yet it gives fertility and pro- 
duces luxuriant vegetation where there would be barren- 
ness and sterility were it pure. The exception in the 
case of irrigating alkali lands would be water heavily 
charged with alkali salts, this kind of water being one 
of the causes of deleterious alkali deposits. 

THE SOIL AND THE ATMOSPHERE. 

The oxygen of the atmosphere is essential to the 
germination of the seed and to the growth of the plant. 
The whole plant must have air, the roots as well as 
the leaves, therefore it is of consequence that this oxy- 
gen should have access to every part of the soil and 
thus to all the roots. This can only be effected by 
working the land and rendering it sufficiently porous. 

Some soils absorb oxygen faster and in greater 
quantities than others. Clays absorb more than sandy 
soils, and vegetable molds or peats more than clay. 
It depends, however, upon their condition as to por- 
osity, and also upon their chemical constitution. If the 



Relations of Water to the Soil. 65 

clay contains iron or manganese in the state of oxides 
these latter will naturally absorb oxygen in large quan- 
tities for the purpose of combining with it, having 
a great affinity therefor, while a soil containing much 
decaying vegetable matter will also drink in large quan- 
tities of oxygen to aid the natural decomposition con- 
stantly going on. 

In addition to absorbing oxygen and nitrogen, of 
which the air principally consists, the soil also absorbs 
carbonic acid and portions of other vapors floating in 
it whether ammonia or nitric acid. This absorption of 
atmospheric elements and gases of every kind occurs 
most easily and in greater abundance when the soil 
is in a moist state. Hence it is that the fall of rains 
and the descent of dew, or the application of irriga- 
tion water, favors this absorption in dry seasons and 
in dry climates; it will also be greatest in those soils 
which have the power of most readily extracting wa- 
tery vapor from the air during the absence of the sun. 
It must be clear from this that the influence of dews 
and gentle showers reaches much farther than the 
surface of the soil, watery vapor following the atmos- 
phere down deep into the soil, penetrating as deep as 
the porous nature of the soil will permit it. Some say 
that, under proper conditions as to cultivation, the 
soil will gain in dew at night nearly as much as it 
loses by evaporation during the day. It appears rea- 
sonable enough to suppose that the atmosphere, under 
a pressure of fifteen pounds to the square inch, will 
penetrate to any depth and carry with it whatever of 
moisture and gases it contains. 

THE SOIL AND THE SUN", 

In addition to the chemical effect of sunlight upon 
plants the rays of the sun beating down upon the earth 
impart to the soil a degree of heat much higher than 
that of the surrounding atmosphere. Sometimes this 
soil heat rises from 110 degrees to 150 and more, while 



66 The Primer of Irrigation. 

the air in the shade is between 70 and 80 degrees, a 
quantity of heat most favorable to rapid growth. The 
relations between the heat of the sun and the color of 
the soil is of little importance where sunlight abounds, 
although in some locations it is of considerable import- 
ance. This has already been alluded to and all that 
need be said here is that the dark-colored soils, the 
black and the brownish reds, absorb the heat of the 
sun more rapidly than the light-colored, for which rea- 
son, as to warmth, the dark soils more rapidly pro- 
mote vegetation thr.n the others. 

As to the povv^er of retaining heat it is interest- 
ing to note that sandy soils cool more slowly than clay, 
and clay more slowly than peaty soils, or those rich 
in vegetable matter. Vegetable mold will cool as much 
in one hour as a clay in two, or a sandy soil in three 
hours. That is, after the sun sets the sandy soil will 
be three hours in cooling, the clay two, and the soil 
rich in vegetable matter, one hour. It is also inter- 
esting to note that on those soils which cool the soon- 
est dew will first begin to be deposited. 

Man possesses very little power over the relations 
between the soil and heat other than growing plants 
whose abundance of leaves and luxuriant growth will 
shade the ground, prevent, or retard evaporation, 
and enable the soil to maintain a uniform heat, or 
mixing sand with less heat-retaining soils. These mat- 
ters are of more importance in kitchen garden culture 
than in the fields; but there are deep valleys among 
the mountains where the sun rises about 9 a. m. and 
sets about 3 p. m., and in these, there being so little 
scope for the sun's rays and the soil being cool for a 
much longer period than it is warmed by the sun, the 
power of retaining heat would render one soil more 
valuable and favorable to plant growth than a soil 
less retentive. 



CHAPTER VI. 

PLANT FOODS — THEIB NATURE — DISTRIBUTIOK AKD 
BPFECTS IN GENERAL. 

There are four substances which are essential to 
all plant food; without them few plants could live, 
and what is surprising, they form a very large portion 
of every plant in one form or another. These 
substances are : Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Nitro- 
gen. We shall take them up in rotation and briefly ex- 
plain their origin, nature and action. 

CARBON. 

Carbon is generally known under the form of 
coal, any kind of coal, but for experimental pur- 
poses it is usually wood charcoal that is consid- 
ered the nearest approach to pure carbon, there 
being none except the diamond which can be called 
actually pure or crystallized carbon. As wood 
charcoal, it is derived from willow, pine, box, and sev- 
eral other woods, burned under cover so as to prevent 
free access of air, and its manufacture is of great com- 
mercial importance, kilns for its creation existing in 
thousands of places throughout the United States, 
where forests abound and wood is in plenty. It should 
be borne in mind that this carbon, or wood charcoal, 
is an essential element of the plant, inasmuch as it 
comes out of it by burning. Moreover it is all manu- 
factured in the plant, extracted as part of its food 
from the soil, or the gir. 

Heated in air, charcoal, or carbon, as we shall 
call it hereafter, burns with little flame, and is slowly 
consumed, leaving only a white ash, the rest of the 
carbon disappearing in the air. It is not lost, how- 
ever, for by the burning it is converted into a gas 
which goes by the name of "carbonic acid,'' which 
ascends and mingles with the atmosphere, to be again 
absorbed by plants to manufacture more carbon, or 

67 



68 The Primer of Irrigation. 

rather a fresh supply of charcoal. This carbonic acid 
gas is deadly, speedily causing death if breathed. 

Carbon is light and porous and floats on water, but 
plumbago, or black lead, and the diamond, which are 
only other forms of carbon, are heavy and dense. Both 
black lead and the diamond when burned in the air at 
a high temperature, leave only a very little white ash, 
the rest being converted into carbonic acid and disap- 
pearing in the air like the common charcoal. 

Of this carbon, all vegetable substances contain a 
very large proportion. It forms from 40 to 50 per 
centum by weight of all parts of dried plants cultivated 
for the food of animals or man, and the part it per- 
forms in the economy of nature is therefore very im- 
portant. 

Light, porous charcoals possess several notable 
properties in plant culture: 

First — they absorb into their pores large quan- 
tities of gaseous substances and vapors which exist 
in the atmosphere. Thus: They absorb over ninety 
times their bulk of ammonia ; fifty-five times their bulk 
of sulphuretted hydrogen; nine times their bulk of 
oxygen; nearly twice their bulk of hydrogen, and 
absorb sufficient aqueous vapor to increase their weight 
from ten to twenty per centum. 

Second — They separate from water, decayed ani- 
mal matters and coloring substances which it may 
hold in solution. In the soil they absorb from rain, 
or flowing water, organized matters of various kinds, 
and yield them up to the plants growing near to 
contribute to their growth. 

Third — They absorb disagreeable odors and keep 
animal and vegetable matter sweet when in contact 
with it. For which reason vegetable substances con- 
taining much water, like potatoes, turnips, etc., are 
better preserved by the aid of a quantity of charcoal. 

Fourth — They extract from water a portion of the 



Plant Foods — Their Nature, Etc. G9 

saline substances, or salts, it may happen to have in 
solution, and allow it to escape in a less impure form. 
The decayed (half carbonized) roots of grass, which 
have been long subjected to irrigation, may act in 
one or all of these ways, on the more or less impure 
water with which they are irrigated, and thus gradu- 
ally arrest and collect the materials fitted to promote 
the growth of the coming crop. 

OXYGEN. 

We know oxygen only in its gaseous or aeriform 
state, although it may be liquefied, and even converted 
into a solid form under the name of "liquid air.^^ As 
a gas it is invisible and possesses neither color, taste, 
nor smell. When inhaled in a pure state it is stim- 
ulating and exciting to the vital functions, but used 
in excess it causes death. Plants refuse to grow in 
pure oxygen gas and speedily perish. 

It exists in the atmosphere in the proportion of 
21 per centum of the bulk of the latter, and in this 
state _ and proportion it is necessary to the existence 
of animals and plants, and to permit combustion every- 
where on the globe. The amount of it in water will 
surprise many readers, for every nine pounds of water 
contains eight pounds of oxygen. A knowledge of this 
fact will cause the full value of water as an essential to 
plant growth to be appreciated; moreover, water pos- 
sesses the power of absorbing still more oxygen from 
the atmosphere than it contains naturally. Thus, water 
will absorb from three and one-half to six and one-half 
parts of oxygen to one hundred parts of water. Rain, 
spring and river waters always contain an additional 
proportion of oxygen which they have absorbed from 
the atmosphere. This is taken up in the soil, for, as the 
water trickles through the soil it surrenders the oxygen 
to the plants with which it comes in contact, and min- 
isters to their growth and nourishment in various ways 
to be hereafter explained. 



70 The Primer of Irrigation. 

But the quantitiy of oxygen stored in solid rocks 
is still more remarkable. Nearly one-half of the rocks 
which compose the crust of the earth, of every solid sub- 
stance we see around us, of the soils which are daily 
cultivated, and much more than one-half of the weight 
of living plants and animals, consist of this elementary 
body, oxygen, known to us only as an invisible, im- 
ponderable, unperceivable gas. 

HYDROGEN. 

Hydrogen is also known to us in the state of gas, 
and like oxygen is without color, taste, or smell. It is 
unknown in a free or simple state, although chemists 
have succeeded in obtaining it in small quantities, and 
is not so abundant as either carbon or oxygen. It forms a 
small percentage of the weight of animal and vegetable 
substances, and constitutes only one-ninth of the weight 
of water. With the exception of coal and mineral oils 
known as ^^hydro-carbons,'^ it is not a constituent of 
any of the large mineral masses of the globe. 

It does not support life, and animals and plants 
introduced into it speedily die. It is the lightest of 
all known substances, being fourteen and one-half times 
lighter than air. Water absorbs it in very small quan- 
tities, one hundred gallons of water taking up no more 
than one and one-half gallons of it. 

NITROGEN. 

This substance is likewise known only in a state 
of gas. It exists in the atmosphere in the proportion 
of seventy-nine per centum of its entire bulk, and 
is without color, taste, or smell. It is lighter than 
atmospheric air in the proportion of ninety-seven and 
one-half to one hundred, and is deadly in its pure state 
to both animals and plants. It is essential in the at- 
mosphere we breathe, moderating the combustion which 
would ensue if the air were pure oxygen, and forms a 
part of many animal and some vegetable substances, 
but does not enter, except in small proportions, into 



Plant Foods — Their Nature, Etc. 71 

mineral masses. It is less abundant than any of the 
so-called organic elements, but it performs certain 
most important functions in reference to the growth 
of plants. Spring and rain water absorb it as they 
do oxygen, from the atmosphere, and bear it in solu- 
tion to the roots of plants, one hundred parts of water 
dissolving about one and one-half to four per centum 
of the gas. 

PROPORTIONS OF THE FOREGOING ELEMENTS IN PLANTS. 

Although the substances of plants are composed 
mainly of the above organic elements, they exist in 
very different proportions. This will appear from the 
following table of "dried^^ plants, taking one thousand 
parts by weight as the standard: 

Clover Grass, Pota- 

Oats. seed. hay. Peas. Wheat, toes. 

Carbon 507 494 458 465 455 441 

Hydrogen ... 64 58 50 61 57 58 

Oxygen 367 350 387 401 431 439 

Nitrogen .... 22 70 15 42 34 12 

Ash 40 28 90 31 23 50 



1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 

The above proportions are slightly variable, but 
the figures given represent nearly the relative weights 
in which these elementary elements enter into forms 
of vegetable matter. Herbaceous plants generally leave 
more ash, that is, inorganic matter, the wood of trees 
and the different parts of plants yielding unequal quan- 
tities. 

HOW ORGANIC ELEMENTS COMBINE TO FORM PLANT 

FOODS. 

Carbon being a solid, and insoluble in water, can 
not be taken up through the pores of the roots of 
plants, the only parts with which it can come in con- 
tact. Hydrogen, in its simple state, forms no part 



T2 The Primer of Irrigation. 

of the food of plants because it does not exist in the 
atmosphere or in the soil in any appreciable quan- 
tities. Oxygen exists in the atmosphere in the gaseous 
state and may be inhaled by the leaves of plants. 
Nitrogen may be absorbed by the leaves of living plants, 
but in a quantity so small as to escape detection. 
Horeover, oxygen and nitrogen being soluble in water 
to a slight degree, may also be absorbed in small quan- 
tities along with the water taken in through the pores 
of the roots. 

But this absorption by the plant is insufficient to 
maintain its life and growth. It must have a liberal 
supply of food in which the four elements specified 
form a large percentage. Now, this food can only 
be obtained, or manufactured, by the four organic ele- 
ments entering into mutual combinations to form what 
are known as "chemical compounds.^' It is these chem- 
ical compounds which find their way into the interior 
of the plant, into its very substance, and then the 
plant grows and reaches maturity, provided these chem- 
ical combinations are continued during its period of 
existence. 

It must be borne in mind that the atmosphere 
diffuses itself everywhere. It makes its way into every 
pore of the soil, carrying with it its oxygen, carbonic 
acid and other substances it may be charged with, to 
the dead vegetable matter and to every living root. Its 
action is double: Playing among the leaves and 
branches, and fondling the roots by mingling with the 
soil. It is the workman, and its tools are its gases, 
and with them it manufactures out of the raw material 
it finds in the soil — that is, the silica, the sulphur, and 
other inorganic substances, and the decayed organic 
matter — chemical combinations which the plant seizes, 
appropriates and digests. 

CHEMICAL COMBINATIONS. 

When common table salt and water are mixed the 



Plant Foods — Their Nature, Etc. 73 

salt dissolves and disappears. By evaporating the wa- 
ter it is possible to recover the salt in the same form 
and condition as it was at first. This is called a 
"mechanical combination," with which chemistry has 
nothing to do, and which would not, in the economy 
of nature, be sufficient as a plant food, although such 
combinations and solutions are absorbed by the plant — 
they do not feed it! 

But when limestone is put into a kiln and burned 
it is changed into an entirely different substance, which 
is called "quicklime." The limestone is decomposed by 
the burning, the carbonic acid mixed with lime is 
driven off by the heat, and lime remains. 

So when sulphur is burned in the air it is all 
converted into a white vapor of an unpleasant odor, 
which is finally absorbed by the atmosphere and dis- 
appears. This is also a chemical decomposition, in 
which the sulphur is combined with the oxygen of 
the atmosphere. 

To cite another illustration, it may be said that 
water itself is a chemical compound of the two ele- 
mentary bodies, oxygen and hydrogen. 

None of these latter are mixtures like the mix- 
ture of salt and water, but elementary bodies united 
to form new substances, which, as has been said, are 
called "chemical compounds," and it is through these 
chemical combinations that all plants and fruits pos- 
sess their various peculiarities. 

The number of compounds which the four organic 
elements form with each other is practically unlim- 
ited, but of them, a very few only minister to the 
growth and nourishment of plants. Of these water, 
carbonic acid, ammonia, and nitric acid are the most 
important. These compounds we shall take up in their 
order, a knowledge of all of them being of essential 
importance in agriculture. 



74 The Primer of Irrigation. 

WATER. 

The following are the three qualities of water im- 
portant to plant life: 

First — A solvent power. 

Second — An affinity for certain solid substances. 

Third — An affinity for its own elements. 

First — Water possesses the power of absorbing the 
several gases of which the atmosphere is composed, and 
carries them to the roots of plants whence they are 
taken into the circulation. 

It dissolves many solid inorganic substances, earthy 
and saline, and conveys them in a fluid form to the 
roots of plants, which enables them to ascend with the 
sap. It also takes up substances of organic origin, 
such as portions of decayed animal and vegetable mat- 
ter, and likewise brings them within reach of the roots. 

When warm the solvent powers of water over solid 
substances is very much increased, a fact which ac- 
counts for the luxuriant vegetation in the tropical and 
semi-tropical regions, and in what are known as "warm 
soils." 

Second — Water exhibits a remarkable affinity for 
solid substances. A familiar instance is mixing watet 
with quick lime. The lime heats, cracks, swells, and 
finally becomes a white powder. This is familiarly 
known as "slaking" lime. When thoroughly slaked, the 
lime will be found to be one-third heavier than before. 
Every three tons of lime, therefore, absorb one ton 
of water; hence, if four tons of slaked lime is put 
upon land one ton of water is also mixed in the soil. 

Water has an affinity for clay, the hottest sum- 
mer seldom robbing the clay of its water, enough be- 
ing retained to keep wheat green and flourishing when 
plants on lighter soils are drooping and burning up. 

An affinity for water causes vegetable matter to 
combine chemically with it, but in the case of a porous 
soil the water is merely ^'drunk in" mechanically and 



Plant Foods — Their Nature, Etc. 76 

it is retained unchanged in the pores of the soil, whence 
it may be evaporated out, as related in the last chapter, 
but not where there has been a chemical transforma- 
tion. This is a fact that should be remembered in 
applying mixtures of vegetable matter to the soil by 
way of fertilization. A mere mechanical mixture is of 
little effect; there must be a chemical transformation 
provided for. And it should also not be forgotten that 
water itself is capable of a chemical change whereby its 
qualities are preserved and retained much longer, in- 
deed, than if merely poured upon the soil as a mechan- 
ical attempt to assist plant growth. 

Third — Water possesses an affinity for its own ele- 
ments, and this fact exercises a material influence on 
the growth and production of all vegetable substances. 
In the interior of plants, as in animals, water undergoes 
continual decomposition and re-composition. In its 
fluid state it finds its way into every vessel and every 
tissue. In this situation the water yields its oxygen to 
one portion of the plant and its hydrogen to another 
portion, wherever either is needed, and, in like manner, 
the oxygen and the hydrogen resume their combination 
as water and cling together until a new chemical change 
is needed. To comprehend this better the reader has 
only to observe the effects of water on his own system, 
for, as between plants and animals, the transmutations 
of oxygen and hydrogen, conveyed into the system by 
means of water, are practically identical. 

We shall have more to say upon this subject in the 
chapter on the advantages of irrigation. 

CARBONIC ACID. 

Carbonic acid, as has been said, is the gas 
from burned charcoal, or carbon. It has an .aSd 
taste and smell, is soluble in water, and reddens vege- 
table blues. Water dissolves more than its own bulk 
of this gas. It is one-half heavier than atmospheric 
air, and is deadly in its effects. Yet it is the principal 



76 The Primer of Irrigation, 

food of plants, being absorbed by the leaves and roots 
in large quantities, hence its presence in the atmos- 
phere is necessary to plant growth, though the pro- 
portion is small. 

Carbonic acid unites with potash, soda and lime, 
forming compounds known as ^'^carbonates/^ Thus 
pearlash is carbonate of potash; the common soda of 
the shops is carbonate of soda, and limestone, or chalk, 
is carbonate of lime. The common carbonate of lime, 
in its various forms of chalk, limestone, or marble, is 
insoluble in pure water, but it dissolves readily in 
water containing carbonic acid. We know that water 
absorbs a quantity of carbonic acid from the atmos- 
phere, and hence as it trickles through the soils con- 
taining limestone, etc., it dissolves a portion of the 
earth and carries it in its progress to the roots of the 
plants, where the earthy solution is used directly or in- 
directly to promote vegetable growth. 

As to its absorption by water, a reference to a 
common glass of soda water will be sufficient to make 
this clear. 

Some plants manufacture their own acids out of 
the carbonic acid — distinctive acids — for instance, ox- 
alic acid, which is found in the leaves and stems of the 
common sorrel (oxalis). It is an acid not found in the 
soil and may be obtained from sugar, starch and even 
from wood by various chemical processes, principally 
by the use of nitric acid. To detail all the uses to which 
carbonic acid may be put would be going deep into 
chemistry, which is beyond the scope of this book. 
However, vegetable acids will be referred to in the next 
chapter. 

AMMONIA. 

Ammonia is a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen, 
and performs a very important part in the process of 
vegetation. It promotes not only the rapidity and lux- 
uriance of vegetation, but exercises a powerful control 



Plant Foods— Their Nature, Etc. *l*l 

over the functions of vegetable life. It possesses sev- 
eral special properties which bear upon the preparation 
of plant food. 

First — It has a powerful affinity for acid sub- 
stances, and unites with them in the soil, forming saline 
compounds or "salts," which are more or less essential 
to vegetable life. 

Second — It possesses a very strong affinity for 
the acids of potash, soda, lime and magnesia. When 
mixed with these acids the acid in the salt of am- 
monia (sal ammoniac) for instance, is taken up by 
the potash, etc., and the ammonia is set free in a 
gaseous state. This is the effect of lime dressing on 
a soil rich in animal and vegetable matter; it de- 
composes the salts, particularly those of ammonia. 

Third — The salts which ammonia forms with the 
acids are all very soluble in water, and thus ammonia 
is brought down to the roots of plants for their use. 

Fourth, — In the state of carbonate it decomposes 
gypsum, forming carbonate of lime (chalk) and sul- 
phate of ammonia, both of which are peculiarly favor- 
able to vegetation. 

Fifth — The presence of ammonia in a soil con- 
taining animal and vegetable matter in a decaying 
state causes this matter to attract oxygen from the 
air with great rapidity and in abundance, the result 
being that organic acid compounds are formed which 
combine with the ammonia to form ammoniacal salts. 
On the decomposition of these latter salts by the action 
of lime or other of the affinities above mentioned, the 
organic acids separated from them are always further 
advanced toward the state in which they become fit 
for plant foods. 

Sixth — ^The most important property of ammonia 
is the ease with which its salts undergo decomposition, 
either in the air, in the soil, or in the interior of 
plants, a peculiarity which is possessed by water, as 



78 The Primer of Irrigation, 

has been said. In the interior of the plant ammonia 
separates into its constituent elements as freely as 
water. The hydrogen it contains in so large a quan- 
tity is always ready to separate itself from the nitrogen, 
and so, in concert with the other organic elements in- 
troduced into the plant through the roots or the leaves, 
it aids in producing the different solid bodies of which 
the several parts of the plant are made up. The nitro- 
gen also becomes fixed, that is^ "permanent" in the col- 
ored petals of the flowers, in the seeds, and in other 
parts of the plant it passes off in the form of new com- 
pounds, in the insensible form of perspiration, or in 
perfumed exhalations of the plant. 

NITRIC ACID. 

This acid consists of nitrogen combined with oxy- 
gen, and never occurs in nature in a free state, but is 
found in many semi-tropical regions in combination 
with potash, soda and lime, in what are known as "ni- 
trates." They are all, like the salts of ammonia, very 
soluble in water, those of soda, lime and magnesia at- 
tracting moisture from the air, and in a damp atmos- 
phere gradually assume a liquid form. Saltpeter is a 
compound of nitric acid with potash (nitrate of potash), 
and it may sometimes be used as an influential agent 
in promoting vegetation. Like the acid itself, these 
nitrates, when present in large quantities, are destruc- 
tive of vegetation, and are frequently the cause, in arid 
and semi-arid regions, of utter barrenness, the nitrous 
incrustations accumulating upon the surface of the soil. 
In small quantities, however, they exercise an important 
and salutary influence on the rapidity of growth. 



CHAPTEE VII. 

PLANT FOODS — CEREALS — FORAGE PLANTS — FRUITS 

VEGETABLES — ROOT CROPS. 

Plants of every variety are very hearty feeders 
as a rule; in fact, if a plant be furnished with un- 
limited quantities of its proper food, and the environ- 
ments of soil and climate are favorable, it will increase 
its bulk to enormous dimensions; the case is the same 
with fruits. 

Sir Humphrey Davy introduced plants of mint 
into weak solutions of sugar, gum, jelly, etc., and 
found that they grew vigorously in all of them. He 
then watered separate spots of grass with the same 
several solutions, and with common water, and found 
that those watered with the solutions throve more lux- 
uriantly than those treated with ordinary water. From 
this^ it may be reasonably inferred that different or- 
ganic substances are taken into the circulation of plants 
and then converted by them into its own substance, 
or acts as food and nourishes the plant. Of course 
it will be understand that by "plant foods'' are meant 
whatever material tends to make the plant ffrow to 
maturity. 

We have learned that plants absorb carbon in the 
shape of carbonic acid, and the part ammonia plavs in 
the plant economy. Indeed, ammonia is actually pres- 
ent m the juices of many plants, for example: in 
beet roots, birch and maple trees, etc. In tobacco leaves 
and elder flowers it is combined with acid substances. 
It is also an element in the perfume of flowers, whence 
the value of barn yard manure to supply that element. 

Nitric acid is invariably present in common, well 
known plants, in combination with potash, soda, lime 
and magnesia (nitrates). It is always contained in 
the juices of the tobacco plant and the sunflower. The 

79 



80 The Primer of Irrigation. 

common nettle contains it and it is present in barley 
in the form of nitrate of soda. 

Like ammonia, nitric acid exerts a powerful influ- 
ence on growing crops, whether of corn or grass. Ap- 
pied to young grass or sprouting shoots of grain, it 
hastens and increases their growth and occasions a 
larger production of grain, and this grain is richer in 
gluten, and therefore more nutritious in quality. 

As showing the power of a plant to select its own 
food : if a bean and a grain of wheat be grown side by 
side, the stalk of the wheat plant will contain silica 
and that of the bean none. The plant intelligence, or 
instinct, so to speak, knows what it wants or needs, 
and it takes what it requires, rejecting everything else. 
Plants have also the power to reject through their 
roots such substances as are unfit to contribute to their 
support, or which would be hurtful to them if re- 
tained in their system. EJQobs, excrescences and exu- 
dations may often be seen on the roots, stems, and 
even the leaves of plants, which many think are due 
to the ravages of some insect, but which are nothing 
more than the natural effort of the plant to get rid 
of some obnoxious or harmful substance in its system. 
When the plant^s blood is out of order its nature 
attempts to cure it by forcing the dangerous substance 
or matter to the surface, as does the animal system 
under like circumstances. 

Even the germinating seed is a chemical labora- 
tory, inasmuch as it gives off acetic acid, or vinegar, 
which dissolves the inorganic material in its vicinity and 
returns with it in a condition to build up and nourish 
the plant. 

The chemical compounds produced by the juices 
of all plants may be said to be innumerable. Most of 
them are in such small quantities that it would scarcely 
be worth while to consider them, but some are of a 
highly remedial quality, as quinine from Peruvian bark, 



Plant Foods — Cereals — Forage Plants^ Etc. 81 

morphine from the opium of the poppy, salicine from 
the willow, etc. All the cultivated grains and roots 
contain starch in large quantities, and the juices of 
trees, grasses and roots contain sugar in surprising 
quantities. The flour of grain contains sugar and two 
other substances in small quantities, namely: gluten 
and vegetable albumen, which are important nutri- 
tive substances. Sugar is also present in the juices 
of fruits, but is associated with various acids (sour) 
substances, which disappear altogether, or are changed 
into sugar as the fruit ripens. 

WOODY FIBER, OR LIGNIN". 

To manufacture the foregoing chemical compounds 
nature requires a huge structure, an enormous space 
when compared with the product turned out. More 
than one has wondered why a monstrous oak should 
produce so- ridiculously small a fruit as an acorn, and 
a weak pumpkin vine one so enormous. The philoso- 
pher in the fable complained of this irregularity of 
nature as he lay under an oak. But when a small 
acorn fell upon his head he changed his mind. Now, 
all this huge structure, the body of the plant, is as 
carefully manufactured as the delicate savory fruit, 
and out of the same ingredients, practically. The bulky 
part of the plant, the bone and sinew, so to speak, is 
the woody fiber, or lignin. 

When a piece of wood is cut in small portions and 
cooked in water and alcohol until nothing more can 
be dissolved out of it there remains a white, fibrous 
mass to which is given the name woody fiber, or lignin. 
It has neither taste nor smell, and it is insoluble. 
Strange to say, two of its chemical constituents are the 
same as water, being oxygen and hydrogen, with an 
equal quantity of carbon added. 

Under the microscope this woody fiber appears to 
consist of what is called "cellular" matter, the true 
woody fiber, and a coating for strengthening purposes, 



82 The Primer of Irrigation. 

called ^'incrusting'^ matter. This cellular matter is 
composed of oxygen and hydrogen in the proportions 
to form water, but it is difficult to separate them to de- 
termine the elementary construction, but we shall see 
that they demand a certain food and are intended 
for an important purpose. 

The woody fiber sometimes constitutes a large pro- 
portion of the plant, and sometimes it is very small. 
In grasses and corn growing plants, it forms nearly 
one-half of the weight, but in roots and in plants used 
for food it is very small in the first stages of their 
growth. The following table gives the percentage of 
woody fiber in a few common plants while in a green 
state. 
Name of plant. Per cent of woody fiber. Water. 

Pea stalks 10.33 80.0 

White turnips 3.0 92.0 

Common beet 3.0 86.0 

Eed clover 7.0 79.0 

White clover 4.5 81.0 

Alfalfa— in flower 9.0 73.0 

Eye 1.0 68.0 

STARCH. 

Next to woody fiber, starch is the most abundant 
product of vegetation. By whatever names the varioub 
kinds of starch are called: wheat starch, sago, potato 
starch, arrow root, tapioca, cassava, etc., they are all 
alike in their chemical constitution. They will keep 
for any length of time when dry and in a dry place, 
without any change. They are insoluble in cold water 
or alcohol, but dissolve readily in boiling water, giv- 
ing a solution which becomes a jelly when cold. In 
a cold solution of iodine they assume a blue color. 

The constituents of starch are carbon, oxygen, and 
hydrogen, with less carbon and more oxygen than woody 
fiber and about the same quantity of hydrogen. 





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Plant Foods — Cereals — Forage Plants, Etc. 83 

That starch constitutes a large portion of the 
weight of grains and roots usually grown for food the 
following table will show, one hundred pounds being 
the quantity upon which to base the percentage: 
Name of plant. Percentage of starch. 

Wheat flour 39.77 

Eye flour 50.61 

Barley flour 67.70 

Oatmeal 70.80 

Eice 84.85 

Corn 77.80 

Buckwheat 52.0 

Pea and bean meal 43.0 

Potatoes 15.0 

In roots abounding in sugar, as the beet, turnip, 
and carrot, only two or three per centum of starch 
can be detected. It is found deposited among the 
woody fiber of certain trees, as in that of the willow, 
and in the inner bark of others, as the beech and the 
pine. This is the reason why the branch of a willow 
takes root and sprouts readily, and why the inner bark 
of certain trees are used for food in times of famine. 

GUM. 

Many varieties of gum occur in nature, all of them 
insoluble in alcohol, but become jelly in hot or cold 
w^ater, and give a glutinous solution which may be 
used as an adhesive paste. Gum Arabic, or Senegal, 
is the best known. It is produced largely from the 
acacia, which grows in Asia, Africa, California and in 
the warm regions of America generally. It exudes from 
the twigs and stems of these trees, and forms round, 
transparent drops, or "tears." May of our fruit trees 
also produce it in smaller quantities, such as the apple, 
plum and cherry. It is present in the malva, or althea, 
and in the common marsh mallow, and exists in flax, 



84 The Primer of Irrigation. 

rape, and numerous other seeds, which, treated with 
boiling water give mucilaginous solutions. 

All the vegetable gums possess the same chemical 
constituents of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, in nearly 
the same proportions as woody fiber and starch. 

SUGARS. 

All sugars may be classified according to four prom- 
inent varieties: Cane, grape, manna and glucose. 

First — Cane sugar is so called from the sweet sub- 
stance obtained from sugar cane. It is also found in 
many trees, plants and roots. The juice of the maple 
tree may be boiled down into sugar, and in the Cau- 
casus the juice of the walnut tree is extracted for the 
same purpose. 

It is also present in the juice of the beet, turnip 
and carrot. Sugar beet cultivation is assuming enor- 
mous proportions in the United States, as well as in 
Europe. Carrot juice is boiled down into a tasteless 
jelly and when flavored with any fruit flavors passes 
for genuine fruit jelly. 

It is further present in the unripe grains of corn, 
at the base of the flowers of many grasses and in 
clovers when in blossom. 

Pure cane sugar, free from water, consists of the 
following elements, estimated in percentages: 

Carbon, 44.92; oxygen,, 48.97; hydrogen, 6.11; 
almost identical with starch. 

Second — Grape sugar. This sugar is so called 
from a peculiar species of sugar existing in the dried 
grape or raisin, which has the appearance of small, 
round, or grape shaped grains. It gives sweetness to 
the gooseberry, currant, apple, pear, plum, apricot, and 
most other fruits. It is also the sweet substance of 
the chestnut, of the brewer's wort, and of all fermented 
liquors, and it is the sugar of honey when the latter 
thickens and granulates, or "sugars." 

It is less soluble in water than cane sugar, and less 



Plant Foods— Cereals—Forage Plants, Etc. 85 

sweet, two parts of cane sugar imparting as much 
sweetness as five parts of grape sugar, at which ratio 
forty pounds of cane sugar would equal 100 pounds 
of grape sugar. Its chemical constituents are, in per- 
centages: Carbon, 40.47; oxygen, 52.94; hydrogen, 
6.59. Likewise nearly the same as starch. 

As a test to distinguish cane sugar from grape 
sugar: Heat a solution of both and put in each a 
little caustic potash. The cane sugar will be unchanged, 
while the grape sugar will be blanckened and precipi- 
tated to the bottom of the vessel. 

MANNA SUGAR^ ETC. 

Manna sugar occurs less abundantly in the juices 
of certain plants than cane or grape sugar. It exudes 
from a species of ash tree which grows in Sicily, Italy, 
Syria and Arabia. It is the product and main portion 
of an edible lichen, or moss, very common in Asia 
Minor. This curious lichen is found in small, round, 
dark colored masses, from the size of a pea to that 
of a hazel nut or filbert, and is speckled with small 
white spots. The wind carries it everywhere, and it 
takes root wherever it happens to fall. It can only 
be gathered early in the morning as it soon decomposes, 
or corrupts. The natives gather it from the ground 
in large quantities and make it into bread. This is 
said to be what constituted the "rain of manna" which 
fed the Israelites during their wanderings in the des- 
ert, and it derives its name from that circumstance. 

Manna sugar is found in the juice of the larch 
tree and in the common garden celery. In the mush- 
room a colorless variety is found. To add two other 
varieties of sugar^ the black sugar of liquorice root 
and sugar of milk may be mentioned. 

GLUCOSE. 

The name of this sugar means "sweet," a sweet 



86 The Primer of Irrigation. 

principle, or element. It occurs in nature very abun- 
dantly, as in ripe grapes, and in honey, and it is manu- 
factured in large quantities from starch by the action 
of heat and acids. It is only about one-half as sweet 
as cane sugar. It is sometimes called "dextrose," 
"grape sugar," and "starch sugar." What is known 
to the trade as "glucose," is the uncrystallizable resi- 
due in the manufacture of glucose proper, and it con- 
tains some dextrose, maltose, dextrine, etc. Its pro- 
fusion and ease of manufacture makes it a cheap adul- 
teration for syrups, in beers, and in all forms of cheap 
candies. The test for it is the same as that given to 
distinguish between cane and grape sugar. 

All the elements in the foregoing sugars are simi- 
lar in their chemical constitution, and what is still 
more remarkable about them, is the fact that they 
may be transformed one into the other, that is : Woody 
fiber may be changed into starch by heat, sulphuric 
acid, or caustic potash; the starch thus produced may 
be further transformed, first, into gum, and then into 
grape sugar by the prolonged action of dilute sulphuric 
acid and moderate heat. When cane sugar is digested 
(heated) with dilute sulphuric acid, tartaric acid (acid 
of grapes), and other vegetable acids, it is rapidly con- 
verted into grape sugar. When sugar occurs in the 
juice of any plant or fruit, in connection with an acid, 
it is always grape sugar, because cane sugar can not 
exist in combination with an acid, but is gradually 
transformed into grape sugar. This is the reason why 
fruits ferment so readily, and why, even when pre- 
served with cane sugar, the latter is slowly changed into 
grape sugar and then fermentation ensues, and the 
preserved fruit "spoils." 

GLUTEN, VEGETABLE ALBUMEN AND DIASTASE. 

These substances are the nitrogenous elements in 
plants. 



Plant Foods—Cereals — Forage Plants, Etc. 87 

Gluten is a soft, tenacious and elastic substance, 
which can be drawn out into long strings. It has 
little color, taste, or smell, and is scarcely diminished 
in bulk by washing either in hot or cold water. It 
is a product of grain flour, left after washing dough 
in a fine sieve, and allowing the milky, soluble sub- 
stance to pass off. The percentage of gluten in various 
grains is as follows : 

Wheat 8 to 35 per centum. 

Eye 9 to 13 per centum. 

Barley 3 to 6 per centum. 

Oats 2 to 5 per centum. 

Dried in the air it diminishes in bulk, and hardens 
into a brittle, transparent yellow substances resembling 
corn, or glue. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves 
readily in vinegar, alcohol, and in solutions of caustic 
potash, or common soda. 

Vegetable albumen, is practically the same as the 
white of eggs. It has neither color, taste, nor smell, 
is insoluble in water or alcohol, but dissolves in vine- 
gar, and in caustic potash, and soda. When dry it is 
brittle and opaque. It is found in the seeds of plants 
in small quantities, and in grain in the following 
percentages : 

Wheat 75 to 1.50 

Eye 2.0 to 3.75 

Barley 10 to .50 

Oats 20 to .50 

It occurs largely, moreover, in the fresh juices of 
plants, in cabbage leaves, turnips and numerous others. 
When these juices are heated, the albumen coagulates 
and is readily separated. 

Gluten and vegetable albumen are as closely re- 
lated to each other as sugar and starch. They con- 
sist of the same elements united together in the same 
proportions, and are capable of similar mutual trans- 
formations. The following table will show the per- 



88 The Primer of Irrigation. 

centages in which the reader will notice that nitrogen 
is an element which does not exist in starch or sugar : 

Carbon 54.76 

Oxygen 20.06 

Hydrogen 7.06 

Nitrogen 18.12 

When exposed to the air in a moist state both 
these substances decompose, and emit a very disagree- 
ble odor, giving off, among other compounds, ammonia 
and vinegar. Both of them exercise an important 
influence over the nourishing properties of the different 
kinds of foods, as we shall see in a subsequent chapter. 

DIASTASE. 

This substance may be manufactured from newly 
malted barley, or from any grain or tuber when ger- 
minated. It is not found in the seed, but is manu- 
factured during the process of germination by the seed 
itself, or its decomposition, and it remains with the 
seed until the first true leaves of the plant have ex- 
panded, and then it disappears. Its functions, there- 
fore, are to aid in the sprouting of the seed, and that 
accomplished, and there being no further use for it, 
it disappears. The reason for this is as follows: 

Diastase possesses the power of converting starch 
into grape sugar. First, it forms out of starch a gummy 
substance known as dextrine, in common use as ad- 
hesive paste, and then converts it into grape sugar. 
Now, the starch in the seed is the food of the future 
germ, prepared and ready to minister to its wants when- 
ever heat and moisture come together to awaken it into 
life. But starch is insoluble in water and could not, 
therefore, accompany the fluid sap when it begins to cir- 
culate. For which reason, nature forms diastase at the 
point when the germ first issues, or sprouts from its bed 
of food. There it transforms the starch into soluble 
sugar, so that the young vessels can take it up and carry 
it to the point of growQi. When the little plant is able 



Plant Foods^Cereals^Forage Plants, Etc, 89 

to provide for itself, and select its own food out of the 
soil and air, it becomes independent of the diastase and 
the latter is no longer wanted. Weaning a child will 
give the reader the idea. 

VEGETABLE ACIDS. 

There is another class of compound substances 
which play an important part in the development of 
plant foods and the perfection of growth. They are 
known as the vegetable acids, and it is due to them that 
plants possess a taste and flavor, every plant having its 
own peculiar acid. They are usually classified into five 
species and enter into combination with all of the sub- 
stances heretofore referred to. They are: 

^ Acetic acid (vinegar), tartaric acid (acid of wine), 
citric acid (acid of lemons), malic acid (acid of ap- 
ples), and oxalic acid (acid of sorrel). Acetic acid is 
the most extensively diffused and the most largely pro- 
duced of all the organic acids. It is formed wherever 
there is a natural or artificial fermentation of vegetable 
substances. It easily dissolves lime, magnesia, alumina, 
and other mineral substances, forming salts known as 
"acetates,'' which are all soluble in water, and may, 
therefore, be absorbed by the root pores of plants. It is 
an acid common in everything, and may be manufac- 
tured from wood, alcohol, cane sugar and from the juice 
of apples, or by any vegetable fermentation, the process 
of fermentation throwing off carbonic acid and forming 
vinegar. 

Tartaric acid finds lodgment in a variety of plants. 
The grape and the tamarind owe their sourness to it, 
and it exists also in the mulberry, berries of the sumach, 
in the sorrels, and in the roots of the dandelion. It is 
deposited on the sides of wine vats, and when purified 
and compounded with potash, it becomes the familiar 
''cream of tartar,'' which is known to every housewife. 
In the grape it is converted into sugar during the ripen- 
ing of the fruit. 



90 The Primer of Irrigation. 

Citric acid gives sourness to the lemon, lime, orange, 
grape fruit, shaddock and other members of the citrus 
family. It is the acid in the cranberry, and in numerous 
small fruits such as the huckleberry, wild cherry, cur- 
rant, gooseberry, strawberry, and the fruit of the haw- 
thorn. In combination with lime, it exists in the 
tubers, and with potash, it is found in the Jerusalem 
artichoke. 

Malic acid is the chief acid in apples, peaches, 
plums, pears, elderberries, the fruit of the mountain 
ash. It is combined with citric acid in the small fruits 
above mentioned, and in the grape and American agave 
it is associated with tartaric acid. It has exactly the 
same chemical constitution as citric acid, and the two 
bear the same relation to each other as starch, gum and 
sugar. They undergo numerous transformations in the 
interior of plants, and are the cause of the various 
flavors possessed by fruits and vegetables. 

Oxalic acid has poisonous qualities, but an agree- 
able taste. It occurs in combination with potash in the 
sorrels, in garden rhubarb, and in the juices of many 
lichens, or mosses. Those mosses which cover the sides 
of rocks and the trunks of trees sometimes contain half 
their weight of this acid in combination with lime. 

This chapter is, of course, one step farther in ad- 
vance of the one immediately preceding, and the facts 
stated are intended to lead on up to a complete, prac- 
tical knowledge of the forces of nature operating in 
the soil and within the plant to attain perfection. Noth- 
ing but the bare essentials, the mere outlines, have been 
given so far; to attempt to enter into all the details 
would be to write an entire volume, the reading of which 
might prove tiresome and unproductive of anything 
practical. All that it is desired to do in these prelim- 
inary chapters is to furnish the reader with sufficient 
elementary knowledge to enable him to go farther on 
his own account and to infer what the soil needs for the 



Plant Foods— Cereals— Forage Plants, Etc. 91 

cultivation of plants; how that soil is to be cultivated 
and how the element of water is to be applied to "in 
Tm/- ^/"f^"'® '^ productiveness and his profit. 
This IS the true preliminary to irrigation, as we imag- 
ine, for It would convey no information to suggest the 
pouring of water on the soil, and drenching pknts and 
crops with 1 , unless the intelligence is prepared to 
understand why that should be done, and all the details 
and^consequences laid before the reason and common 

rlonrll^^'i it l^'"^-' ,°"Sht to have a comparatively 
« hlh Pn+f *! chemical constitutions of the substances 
^hich enter into the soil, and from the soil into the 
plants but there still remains the question: How do 
the substances necessary to plant life get into the con- 

the rt cftf' ■ '^'^^ ^"^^^'"-^ ^^" '^ — "'^ 




CHAPTER VIII. 

HOW PLANT FOOD IS TRANSFORMED INTO PLANTS. 

The growth of plants from the seed to the harvest, 
or fall of the leaf, may be divided into four periods, 
during each of which they live on different foods and 
expend their energies in the production of different 
substances. 

This is important to be well understood, for plants 
can not be dieted like animals, they need certain provi- 
sions at certain periods of their growth, and if not 
supplied with them the result is failure, or a sparse 
crop. A farmer feeds his chickens egg-producing food, 
his cows milk-generating fodder and mash, and his 
cattle fat-making provender. He might as well deprive 
his animals of their necessary stimulating food and 
expect them to go on laying eggs, furnishing milk and 
growing fat, as to expect his crops to succeed without 
providing them with the requisite material to arrive at 
perfection. But, to proceed. 

These four periods in the life of plants are : 

First — The period of germination, that is, from 
the sprouting of the seed to the formation of the first 
perfect leaf and root. 

Second — From the unfolding of the first true 
leaves to the flower. 

Third — From the flower to the ripening of the 
fruit or seed. 

Fourth — From the ripening of the fruit, or seed, 
to the fall of the leaf and the return of the following 
spring. 

Of course, in annual plants, when the seed or fruit 
is ripe or harvested, there are no more duties or func- 
tions to perform, hence the plants die, having accom- 
plished the object of their existence. But in the case 
of perennial plants, there are important things to be 

92 



How Plant Food is Transformed Into Plants. 93 

done in order to prepare them for the new growth of 
the ensuing spring. 

PERIOD OF GERMINATION. 

1. To sprout at all, a seed must be placed in a 
sufficiently moist situation. No circulation can take 
place, no motion among the particles of the matter 
composing the seed, until it has been amply supplied 
with water. Indeed, food can not be conveyed through 
its growing organs unless a constant supply of fluid De 
furnished the infant plant and its first tender rootlets. 
This does not mean drenching the immature plant with 
water, but supplying it with moisture. A child needs 
feeding just as much as an adult, but not to the same 
extent, and over-feeding kills the young plant as quickly 
as the young animal. The reason is plain, if the reader 
remembers what was said in the last chapter, in which 
it was specified that water is a chemical compound of 
oxygen and hydrogen. In this state it is too strong a 
food for the young plant, and "drowns'' it out, as the 
saying is. But in a state of moisture, the chemical 
nature of the water is altered somewhat and becomes 
available to the juices in the seed, whereby the germ 
is enabled to grow and fulfill its mission without meet- 
ing with a premature death. It is water that is the 
parent of moisture and without water, of course, there 
can be no moisture. Nevertheless, throughout this en- 
tire book, it is moisture that will be insisted upon; 
when plants have that, the whole object of irrigation 
will be accomplished, unless it be the intention to grow 
aquatic plants. 

Now, this moisture must be constant during the 
entire life of the plant, not liberal one day with the 
next day dry, and so on, alternately, as some say may 
happen in the case of pork for the purpose of making 
alternate layers of fat and Tean in the bacon, but not in 
the case of vegetation. 

2. A certain degree of warmth is necessary to 



94 The Primer of Irrigation, 

germination. This warmth varies with the seed, some 
seeds, those containing much starch, for instance, re- 
quiring more, and slow germinating seeds less. What ia 
needed is not too early a planting and protection against 
any inclemency of the weather from frost or cold rains, 
and not too late a planting in locations where there are 
no winter or spring frosts, to avoid too great a heat 
from the sun, which is as dangerous to tender plants 
as frost. "Warmth" is a sufficiently descriptive word 
to make the meaning clear. 

3. Seeds refuse to germinate if entirely excluded 
from the air, even where there is plenty of moisture. 
Hence, in a damp soil, seeds will not show any signs 
of life for a long time, and yet when turned up near 
the surface within reach of the air, they speedily sprout. 
The starch in the grain intended to feed the germ will 
not dissolve in water, so it happens that the farmer, 
sometimes, in ditching or digging a well, throws up 
earth that has lain many feet below the surface for 
years, perhaps ages, the length of time makes no differ- 
ence, from which sprout plants of unknown varieties. 
They have never lost their vitality. The "oat hills" in 
the southern part of California are familiar examples. 
Year after year a good crop of oats springs up without 
planting, cultivating the surface being sufficient to 
bring the buried grain within reach of the air. It is 
said that the old Padres originally sowed this grain 
broadcast wherever they went, taking a sack of it on 
their horses, and as they traveled along cast handfuls 
of it in the most favorable spots. This grain grew to 
maturity year after year, going back to the soil unhar- 
vested, there being nobody to gather it. The civil and 
criminal records of the southern California courts are 
full of lawsuits and murders growing out of struggles 
to obtain and retain possession of these "oat hills." 

A friend for whose accuracy there is abundant evi- 
dence, cites a case that happened to him personally in a 



How Plant Food is Transformed Into Plants. 95 

small valley in the semi-arid region. Wanting water 
he began sinking a well and went down one hundred 
feet before reaching moist ground. That ground was 
a soft black loam, and desiring to keep it for a top 
dressing, he laid it aside for future use. Not long 
afterward seeds began sprouting all over it and, helping 
the sprouts with a little water to keep the soil moist, 
he raised a thick crop of fine sweet clover. The seeds 
had never been planted by the hand of man, for the 
formation of the soil indicated that it might have been 
in the same condition since the Deluge. 

4. Generally speaking, light is injurious to ger- 
mination, wherefore, the seeds must be covered with 
soil, and yet not so deep as to be beyond the reach of 
air. Sowing grain broadcast leaves much of it exposed 
to the light, and even after harrowing, it does not ger- 
minate, being food for birds and drying up or burning 
up in the sun. In light, porous soils, it is common, 
however, to sow broadcast and then plow under, after- 
ward harrowing lightly. It is also common in the arid 
and semi-arid regions to plow the grain in "dry'^ in 
the summer or dry months, and when the rains come in 
the autumn, or say, in November and December, the 
grain sprouts in a few days. 

The reason why light is prejudicial to germination 
and why atmospheric air is necessary is because during 
germination seeds absorb oxygen gas and give off car- 
bonic acid, and they can not sprout unless oxygen gas 
is within their reach, the only place where they can 
obtain it being from the atmosphere. In the sunshine 
the leaves of plants give off oxygen gas and absorb 
carbonic acid, while in the dark the reverse takes place. 
Hence, if seeds are exposed to the sunlight, they give 
up oxygen which they need and absorb carbonic acid, 
which kills them. 

5. During germination, acetic acid (vinegar) and 
diastase are produced, as mentioned in the last pre- 



96 The Primer of Irrigation. 

ceding chapter, whereby the insoluble starch is con- 
verted into sugar, which is soluble and can be absorbed 
as food by the youthful plant. 

6. The tender young shoot which ascends from 
the seed consists of a mass of organs or vessels, which 
gradually increase in length, sometimes ^^unroll" into 
the first true leaves. The vessels of this first shoot do 
not consist of unmixed woody fiber, that is not formed 
until after the first leaves are fully developed. In the 
meantime the young root is making its way down into 
the soil, seeking a storehouse of nourishment upon 
which it can draw when the sugar of the seed shall all 
have been consumed. 

These phenomena are brought about in the follow- 
ing manner: The seed absorbs oxygen and gives off 
carbonic acid. This transforms a portion of the starch 
into acetic acid, which aids the diastase to transform the 
insoluble starch into soluble sugar, or food that can be 
taken up into the plant. It also dissolves the lime in 
the soil contiguous to it, and returns into the plant, 
carrying the lime or other dissolved earthy substances 
with it. The seed imbibes moisture from the soil, and 
this dissolves the "sugary starch," so to speak, and it 
all goes into the circulation, and the plant is enabled to 
grow and develop its first leaves. It is like a baby fed 
on milk. 

When the true leaves have expanded, woody fiber 
begins to make its appearance, which can be readily 
understood by attempting to break the plant stalk, a 
thing easily done before the first leaves appear, but not 
so easily afterward. The sugar in the sap is now con- 
verted into woody fiber, the root drawing up food from 
the soil, and the leaf drinking oxygen and carbonic acid 
from the atmosphere. The moisture must still be con- 
stant, for the root can not absorb food unless the latter 
is properly dissolved. 



How Plant Food is Transformed Into Plants. 97 

FROM THE FIRST LEAVES TO THE FLOWER. 

The plant now enters upon a new stage of exist- 
ence, deriving its sustenance from the air and the soil. 
The roots descend and the stem shoots up, and while 
they consist essentially of the same chemical substances 
as before, they are no longer formed at the expense of 
the starch in the seed, and the chemical changes of 
which they are the result are entirely different. 

Here is where the farmer will make a fatal mistake 
if he relaxes his vigilance. The whole energy of the 
plant is directed toward one single goal, that of pre- 
paring for the flower which is the forerunner of the 
fruit. What the flower is, that will be the fruit. 

The leaf absorbs carbonic acid in the sunshine and 
gives off oxygen in equal bulk, and the growth of the 
plant is intimately connected with this absorption of 
carbonic acid, because it is in the light of the sun that 
plants increase in size. N'ow, by this function of the 
leaf, carbon is added to the plant, but it is added in the 
presence of the water of the sap and is thus enabled by 
uniting with it to form any one of those numerous 
compounds which may be represented by carbon and 
water, and of which, as was shown in the last chapter, 
the solid parts of plants are principally made up. This 
period may be called the period of "plant building," 
the plant utilizing every material that will bring it up 
to the condition of flowering. 

The sap flows upward from the roots, through 
which have been received the silica, potash, soda, phos- 
phorous, etc., in solution, and reaching the leaves, meets 
the carbonic acid flowing in through the myriad of 
mouths in the leaves, and then flows along back down- 
ward to the roots, depositing, as it descends, the starch, 
woody fiber, etc., which have been formed by the action 
of the carbonic acid. Thus the sap circulates round and 
round like the circulation of blood in the veins of an 
animal, except that its heart is not a central organ, but 



98 The Primer of Irrigation. 

an attraction of affinities among the substances which 
enter into plant life, affinities constantly pursuing each 
other through the veins or capillaries of the plant, and 
forming unions, the products of which add to the 
growth of the plant and enable it to accomplish its des- 
tiny. 

During this ante-flowering period there are pro- 
duced in the plant not only woody fiber, but other 
compounds which play an important part in a subse- 
quent stage of its existence; one of these, the most im- 
portant, is oxalic acid, which has already been alluded 
to. This acid seems to be formed at this period to aid 
in perfecting the future fruits that will follow the 
flower. What is curious about these various acids now 
formed is that many of the plants are sour in the 
morning, tasteless during the middle of the day, and 
bitter in the evening. The reason is, during the day 
these plants have been accumulating oxygen from the 
atmosphere to form acids, but as the day advances this 
oxygen is given off, carbonic acid is imbibed and the 
acids decomposed. Hence the sourness disappears, but 
the materials are in the plant ready for use when re- 
quired — the acid storehouse is filling against the day 
of need. 

In the case of wheat, barley and other grains, the 
chief energy of the plant, previous to flowering, is ex- 
pended in the production of the woody fiber of its stem 
or stalk, and growing branches, drawing up from the 
soil for that purpose the various ingredients they re- 
quire from among the inorganic elements, which unite 
with the vegetable acids in the sap and form compounds 
which are essential to the perfection of the grain or 
seed. In the first stage of its growth the starch of the 
seed is transformed into gum, and then sugar; in its 
second stage, when the leaves are expanded, the starch 
is transformed into woody fiber. 



How Plant Food is Transformed Into Plants. 99 
FROM THE FLOWER TO THE RIPENING OF THE FRUIT. 

The sap has now become sweet and milky, indi- 
cating sugar and starch. These during the third period 
are gradually transfornied in the sap into starch, a 
process exactly the reverse, or contrary of that in the 
first and second periods. The opening of the flower 
from the swollen bud is the first step taken by the plant 
to produce the seed by which its species is to be per- 
petuated. At this period a new series of chemical 
changes commence in the plant. 

1. The fiower leaves absorb oxygen and emit car- 
bonic acid all the time, both by day and by night. 

2. They also emit pure nitrogen gas. 

3. The juices of the plant cease to be sweet, even 
in the maple, sugar cane, and beet; the sugar becomes 
less abundant when the plant has begun to blossom. A 
change not difficult to understand when it is considered 
that nature is at work preparing to perfect the seed or 
fruit, and is not working for commercial interests. 
The structure of the plant is now of no consequence, 
and ceases to be of any importance. The imbibing of 
oxygen, which is the parent of all acids, is intended to 
convert the sugar into material for the seed, or fruit, 
the wheat or the peach, the strawberry or the squash. 

The husk of grain bearing grasses, corn, wheat, 
oats, etc., is filled at first with a milky fluid which be- 
comes gradually sweeter and more dense, or thicker, 
and finally consolidates into a mixture of starch and 
gluten, such as may be extracted from the grain as has 
already been said. 

The fleshy envelopes of many plants, at first, taste- 
less, become sour and finally sweet, except in the lime, 
lemon and tamarind, in which the acid remains sensible 
to the taste when the seed has become perfectly ripe. 

Fruits, when green, act upon the air like green 
leaves and twigs, that is, they imbibe oxygen and give 
off carbonic acid, but as they approach maturity they 



100 



The Primer of Irrigation. 



also absorb or retain oxygen gas. The same absorption 
of oxygen takes place when unripe fruits are plucked 
and left to ripen in the air, as is common in the case 
of tomatoes, oranges, lemons, and bananas. After a 
time, however, they begin throwing off carbonic acid 
and then they ferment, spoil or rot. 

RIPENING OF THE FRUIT. 

In the case of pulpy fruits, such as the grape, 
lemon, orange, apple, peach, plum, etc., when unripe 
and tasteless, they consist of the same substances as the 
leaf, a woody fiber filled with tasteless sap, and tinged 
with the green coloring matter of the plant. For a 
time, the young fruit performs the functions of the leaf, 
that is, it absorbs carbonic acid and gives off oxygen, 
thus extracting from the atmosphere a portion of the 
food by which its growth is promoted and its size is 
gradually increased. Eemember what has been hereto- 
fore said about carbon constituting the bulk of the 
plant. 

By and by, however, the fruit becomes sour to the 
taste, and this sourness rapidly increases, while at the 
same time it gives less oxygen than before, the retain- 
ing of the oxygen being, as has been said, the cause of 
the sourness, the oxygen converting the sugar into tar- 
taric acid and water. The grape is an illustration, 
though the same thing happens in fruits abounding in 
the other vegetable acids. 

This formation of acid proceeds for a certain time, 
the fruit becoming sourer and sourer. Then the sharp 
sourness begins to diminish, sugar is formed, and the 
fruit ripens. The acid, however, rarely disappears en- 
tirely, even in the sweetest fruits, until they begin to 
decay. 

During the ripening of the fruit, the woody or 
cellular fiber gradually diminishes and is converted into 
sugar. This will be noticed in several kinds of fruits, 
particularly winter pears, which are uneatable when 



How Plant Food is Transformed Into Plants. 101 

actually ripened on the tree, but become ripe, long after 
plucking, by continuing to absorb oxygen, which con- 
verts the woody fiber, or cellular tissue, into sugar, 
which is not difficult to understand, as woody fiber is 
very similar to sugar in its chemical constitution. 

It should be noted that the entire forces of the 
plant are concentrated upon the seed, the element, or 
agent of reproduction, the pulp of the most delicious 
fruit, the kernel of the sweetest nut being nothing but 
protective envelopes and food supplies for the germ 
when the time and opportunity shall arrive for germi- 
nation. So that the object of the plant in making so 
many transformations is not fruit, but seed. 

FEOM THE FALL OF THE LEAF TO THE FOLLOWING 

SPRING. 

When the seed is fully ripe the functions of annual 
plants are ended. There is no longer any necessity for 
absorbing and decomposing carbonic acid; the leaves, 
therefore, begin to take in only oxygen, with the result 
that they are burned up, so to speak, and they become 
yellow, or parti-colored; the roots decline to take in 
any more food from the soil, and the whole plant pre- 
pares for its death and its burial in the soil by becoming 
resolved into the organic and inorganic elements from 
which it sprang, and of which it was originally com- 
pounded. 

But of trees and perennial plants, a further labor 
is required. The ripened seed having been disposed of, 
there are incipient young buds to be provided for, buds 
which are to shoot out from the stem and branches on 
the ensuing spring. These buds are so many young 
plants for which a store of food must be laid away in 
the inner bark of the tree, or in the wood of the shrub 
itself. 

The sap continues to flow rapidly until the leaves 
wither and fall, and then the food of the plant is con- 



102 The Primer of Irrigation. 

verted partly into woody fiber and partly into starch. 
It has been shown how these substances are converted 
into food by chemical changes, or transformations, and 
these changes do not cease so long as the sap continues 
to move. Even in the depth of winter the sap slowly 
and secretly stores up starchy matter, in readiness, like 
the starch in the seed, to furnish food to the young 
buds when they shall awaken in the spring from their 
winter sleep. It is the same process as in the case of a 
seed planted in the ground. 

RAPIDITY OF GROWTH. 

It has been shown that from carbonic acid and 
water, the plant can extract all the elements of which 
its most bulky parts consist, and can build them up in 
numerous ways. But the rapidity with which the plant 
can perform this building up is almost incredible. 

Wheat will shoot up several inches in three days, 
barley six inches in that time, and a vine twig will 
grow about two feet in three days. Cucumbers have 
been known to attain a length of twenty-four inches in 
six days, and a bamboo has increased its height nine 
feet in less than thirty days. 

The rapid growth of vegetation in semi-tropical 
arid and semi-arid regions is phenomenal. A young 
eucalyptus tree has been known to grow thirty feet in 
a single season, and wheat or barley three inches high 
three days after planting is not uncommon. Potatoes 
(solanum tuberosum) have run up to fifteen pounds in 
weight before the plant had time to blossom, in fact, it 
never did blossom. 

Three-pound onions, eighty-pound watermelons, 
and five-hundred-pound squash are not rarities, 
and I have been told of a field of corn, of the 
white Mexican variety, that grew fourteen feet with 
four perfect ears of corn to the stalk with only twelve 
inches of rain. As for sweet potatoes, or yams, thirty 
pounds weight do not occasion surprise, and beets after 



How Plant Food is Transformed Into Plates. 10§ 

two years' growth are often as large as nail kegs, all 
woody fiber, of course, and unfit for food. 

It is true that such examples are mere experiments, 
indeed they may be called specimens of "freak^^ vegeta- 
tion, and rarely mean perfection of quality, but they 
indicate the ability of the plant to rapidly assimilate 
from the soil and air large, even excessive, quantities 
of the elements it needs, or fancies, provided they exist 
in abundance, and they demonstrate that the farmer has 
it within his power to convert this enormous productive 
energy into "quality'* of product by regulating it 
through adequacy of moisture and cultivation without 
excess. 

In the foregoing chapters nothing but the mere 
outlines of the chemistry of agriculture have been 
given. Even to do that it was necessary to concentrate 
a mass of matter from a multitude of books, lectures, 
personal experiences of successful farmers, and from 
other sources, to reach simplicity and clearness. The 
books are full of never-ending disputes over theories, 
doctrines and scientific experiments, relating to plants 
and the soil, and it was thought best to eliminate all 
those disputes and present the operations of nature with 
regard to the soil and plants in as simple a manner 
as possible. 

There are many things mysterious in nature which 
science has not yet been able to explain, and which 
practical experience accepts without inquiring into rea- 
sons or causes. Why do early potatoes often reach ma- 
turity and the vines die down before the latter have a 
chance to blossom ? What is the answer to the problem 
of seedless fruits, such as oranges, lemons, grapes, etc. ? 
Why do certain plants revert to originals which have 
few traits in common, like the tomato, for instance? 
Why do not the seeds of plants always produce the 
same variety? We know that the laws of chemistry 



104 



The Primer of Irrigation. 



are practically immutable, though their manifestations 
may be irregular. What has been written, it is hoped, 
will be of some benefit toward preparing for the prac- 
tical part of this book, which will occupy the subsequent 
chapters. 




CHAPTER IX. 

PREPARATION OF SOIL FOR PLANTING. 

One great object of cultivating or tilling the soil is 
to break up and loosen the earth, in order that the air 
may have free access to the dead vegetable matter in it, 
as well as to the living roots which spread and descend 
to considerable depth beneath its surface. 

If it be desirable to have a luxuriant vegetation 
upon a given field of land, that is, a good crop, one 
must either select such kinds of seed as will grow in it, 
or which are fitted to the kind of soil in which they are 
planted, or change the nature of the soil so as to adapt 
it to the crop it is desirable to raise. 

It is not denied that plants will grow in any soil 
that contains the general elements essential to their 
existence, but when the quantity and quality of the crop 
are considered as of importance, it is useless to "guess,'' 
for only partial satisfaction will result, and often entire 
failure, which is usually attributed to the elements 
or to the wrath of Providence. 

Farming for profit means that the farmer knows 
every foot of his land and the nature of the soil; what 
it will grow and what it needs. A lack of this knowl- 
edge is farming for luck, and is equivalent to gambling 
with the eyes shut. There is less labor and twice the 
profit in harvesting forty bushels of wheat on an acre 
of properly cultivated soil than forty bushels on two 
acres roughly tilled. The case is the same with any sort 
of crop, and this is so plain that it seems absurd to men- 
tion it, yet it is forgotten in numerous cases of farmers, 
who go more on quantity of acreage than perfection of 
cultivation and increase of crop. It is not extensive 
farming that pays so well as concentrated farming. A 
man with one hundred acres well in hand is better off 
than another with five hundred acres of struggling crops. 
Wholesaling in any business is more expensive and the 
returns less than in retailing, and every farmer knows, 

105 



106 The Primer of Irrigation. 

perhaps by bitter experience, that everything about a 
farm is attended with expense, if not always in cash 
money, then in a draft upon his future strength and 
vitality. Irrigation, however, promises to be a cure for 
rambling farming, by compelling concentration. Why 
spread water over one hundred acres to raise a sparse 
crop when the same or much less water will secure a 
fine, luxuriant crop on twenty-five acres? When a 
single grain of wheat may be made to stool out into sixty 
plants, is not that better than when it stools out into 
only twenty ? The former shows health, vigor, and pro- 
ductiveness, the latter mediocrity. The one means a 
syndicate, the other a home. 

The new beginner, the small farmer, reads accounts 
of the great farming schemes, the thousands and thou- 
sands of acres which run bank accounts into five and six 
figures. He dreams of gang plows, steam plows, com- 
bined harvesters and reapers, his fat cattle upon a thou- 
sand hills, and he swells himself up like the toad in the 
fable to equal the ox, and bursts in his effort. Let the 
reader desirous of gaining a competency through farm- 
ing, acquire a home before he is worn out in the strug- 
gle, before his patient wife sinks beneath the sod in the 
effort, and his children grow up into cowboys, rustlers 
and desperadoes, imitate nobody, read none of the glow- 
ing accounts of successful great farmers without at the 
same time understanding that all such began, as a rule, 
on enormous capital, took a magnificent ranch through 
the early demise of a worn-out ancestor, through a mort- 
gage foreclosure of some "imitator,^^ or raises himself 
to grandeur upon the cheap labor of his fellowmen. 
Let him take the soil and treat it as the foundation for 
a home, for plenty, and the other things will come to 
him. 

It was said in a former chapter that plants are like 
animals, in that to grow to perfection they must be 
properly managed and fed. A half-starved hog pro- 



Preparation of Soil. 107 

duces poor bacon, a chaff-fed horse has little energy, the 
wool of a starveling sheep is coarse and wiry, and even 
a human being, limited in his diet or restricted in 
nourishment, possesses a flabby, shriveled brain and a 
weak physical energy. Men say of animals : prune, cul- 
tivate, select, feed ; of men : prune, cultivate, feed, and 
wherefore not say the same of plants and the soil : prune, 
cultivate, feed ? Herein is the whole science of prepar- 
mg the soil for cultivation, the heredity of plants, 
their atavism, their environments, the survival of the 
fittest, and whatever else may be said of animals and 
humanity. But to return to the great vegetable king- 
dom. 

All of our practical writers agree, and the every- 
day farmer knows by his personal experience, that as the 
systems of roots, branches and leaves are very different 
in different vegetables, so they flourish most in different 
soils. The plants which have bulbous roots require a 
looser and a lighter soil than such as have fibrous roots, 
and the plants possessing only short fibrous radicles de- 
mand a firmer soil than such as have tap roots or ex- 
treme lateral roots. But it may be considered as a tru- 
ism that shallow cultivation of the soil always produces 
minimum crops, whereas maximum harvests are gleaned 
by deep plowing whatever may be the plant. 

It is always a question of the ability of the roots to 
reach out after food and their exposure to air. To com- 
prehend this fully it should be considered that there is 
about as much of the plant under ground as above it, 
and the experienced farmer can always tell by the 
growth of his crop above ground whether the roots are 
doing well under ground, if the growth is not in ac- 
cordance with the natural progress of the plant, there is 
some obstacle below the surface which can be removed 
by cultivation, the loosening up of the soil to a suflScient 
depth. How quickly growing corn revives and takes a 
new lease upon life after deep cultivation between the 



108 The Primer of Irrigation, 

rows! Not shallow cultivating, or scratching over the 
surface, but 'deep plowing/ Level with a shallow culti- 
vator afterward, of course, then hoe and see the stalks 
shoot up. It is some trouble, certainly, but do you not 
depend upon a good crop to make money, and to obtain 
a home ? It is also a trouble to raise a child, but when 
it grows up straight, is not the labor more amply repaid 
than when it grows up crooked and stunted? 

The character of the cultivation, however, depends 
upon the condition of the subsoil. Where that is hard 
or packed, it must be broken through, and up, to per- 
mit root penetration. Frequently, not to say generally, 
there is moisture beneath the hard, packed sub-soil, and 
by breaking through the moisture finds its way up and 
"slakes'^ the hard pan or other resistant subsoil. There 
is also a difference in cultivation between the soils of 
the arid and the humid regions, differences which are 
atmospheric and also in the quantity of the organic ele- 
ments which will be made apparent as we go along. 

It seems unnecessary to repeat so simple a thing 
when it should be as plain as day, that plants possess 
an instinct that does not fall far short of the marvelous. 
For instance, in the arid regions the plant sends its 
roots down deep and out in every direction after the 
moisture which it apparently knows it can not get at 
the surface or near it, whereas, in the humid regions, 
the roots spread out more, because they apparently 
know that the moisture is near the surface and they 
do not have to toil so hard to make their way down 
deep. Anyone practicing surface irrigation will know 
that the roots of plants which have a habit of penetrat- 
ing deep into the soil, grow along the surface, because 
the moisture is there. Plants always adopt the easiest 
method of obtaining food. 

Now why do plants travel after moisture and not 
after dry soil? It is not water plants need, nor is it 
moisture, but it is food. They know that there is food 



Preparation of Soil. 109 

material in the dry soils, but it is not in a fit condition 
to be absorbed, whereas, moisture prepares the food for 
them, hence they refrain from pursuing the raw ma- 
terial and expend their energies in seeking the manu- 
factured product. Let a garden patch which has been 
kept moist, and in which the roots congregate, be allowed 
to dry, and another patch that has been dry and away 
from which the roots turn, be moistened, and the plants 
will grow away from their former hunting ground and 
in the direction of the new one. This is common ob- 
servation. A beet root has been known to travel sixteen 
feet in the direction of a well where it knew it could 
get a drink, although plants, as a rule, are not drinkers 
but feeders of the most pronounced Epicurean type. 

In the arid and semi-arid regions it is better to 
provide for a deep burrowing of the roots, because when 
they frequent the surface, they are liable to suffer from 
drought, or surface dryness. In this the reader will 
find an argument in favor of sub-irrigation. 

Upon this instinct of roots to seek their proper food 
in moist soil, depends the measurement of soil tillage, 
whether deep or shallow, and by '^shallow'' is not meant 
a mere surface scratching, but a good wholesome up- 
heaval of the soil from a depth of eight to twelve inches, 
thence on up to eighteen if the subsoil be in question. 
Where the subsoil is not hard packed, then as deep as 
the subsoil; if packed it should be broken up. But 
where the subsoil is open and porous there is less need 
of deep plowing ; on the contrary, it may be necesary to 
pack the bottom of the furrow, which is accomplished 
by a plow attachment known as a ^^packer,^^ so arranged 
as to follow the plow and press down the earth at the 
bottom of the furrow; a useful contrivance where irri- 
gation is practiced, inasmuch as it tends to prevent the 
leaching of the irrigation water down into the porous 
subsoil, where the water is run into the furrows. 



110 The Primer of Irrigation. 

It can not be too strongly impressed upon the 
reader that the soil must be so cultivated that it will 
retain moisture without permitting it to leach beyond 
the reach of the roots, and at the same time so broken 
up and pulverized that the roots may easily penetrate. 
Let this be the axiom constantly in mind: Give the 
plant roots room to spread. Upon this depends the 
perfection of the plant. "Stunts" are always caused by 
too little root room, the plant languishing because 
they are unable to reach moisture by reason of obstacles 
in the soil. If there is any moisture in the soil the 
plant will get it if it be given an opportunity. 

Let us assume that we have a parcel of land in 
which it is purposed to grow plants without the appli- 
cation of manure. It does not matter whether it be 
virgin soil or one that has already grown a crop of any 
kind; the first thing to be done to this land is to im- 
prove the soil, that is, prepare it for vegetation. This 
may be done in seven ways : 

First — By cultivation, or, more properly speaking, 
pulverization of the soil, by plowing and other mechan- 
ical means of reducing its consistency. 

Second — By mechanical consolidation. 

Third — By exposure to the atmosphere; that is, 
"fallowing." 

Fourth — By alteration of its constituent parts. 

Fifth — By changing its condition in respect to 
v^ater. 

Sixth — By changing its position in respect to at- 
mospheric influences. 

Seventh — By a change in the kinds of plants cul- 
tivated, or "rotation of crops." 

PLOWING AND PULVERIZING. 

All these different methods of preparing the soil 
means practically the same thing — the breaking up of 
the soil, which must be done constantly if a good crop 
in quantity and quality be desirable. 



Preparation of Soil. Ill 

By reason of their chemical elements the tendency 
of all soils is to concrete; that is, to run together into 
a sort of more or less hard cement, a tendency enhanced 
by the growing of crops and the application of water, 
or either. Thus, sand without consistency and quick- 
lime without coherence, when mixed together with 
water, produce a hard cement or plaster, which may be 
crushed and pulverized before it can become again man- 
ageable. In soil the chemical agencies of nature are 
constantly at work to produce the same result; hence 
cultivation to break up a tendency which is adverse 
to the growth of plants and free root penetration. 

The very first object of cultivation is to give scope 
to the roots of plants to spread in every direction, for 
without abundance of roots no plant can become vigor- 
ous, whatever may be the richness of the soil in which 
it is placed. The quantity of food taken from the soil 
does not depend alone upon the quantity in the soil, 
but on the number of absorbing root fibres. The more 
the soil is pulverized the more the fibres are increased, 
the more food is obtained, and the more vigorous the 
plant becomes. Any house plant growing in an earthen- 
ware pot will demonstrate this. The roots grow down 
and then, finding an obstruction, begin growing round 
and round in search of food, until the entire pot is 
filled with root fibres, even forcing out the soil to find 
room, and when they have grown to the limit of their 
confined space, the plant stops growing and becomes 
sickly. 

This cultivation or stirring up of the soil for root 
expansion is not only essentially precious to planting, 
or sowing, but highly beneficial afterward, during the 
progress of vegetation ; and when practiced in the spaces 
between the plants it also operates as a method of 
root-pruning, by which the extended fibres are cut off, 
or shortened, thereby causing them to throw out numer- 
ous other fibres whereby the mouths or pores of the 



112 The Primer of Irrigation. 

plants are greatly increased, and their food capacity 
enhanced. It is very much like fattening animals for 
market by encouraging their consumption of fattening 
food. 

Cultivation renders capillary attraction more uni- 
form, this peculiarity of the soil being greater when the 
particles of earth are finely divided. Thus, gravels and 
sands scarcely retain water at all, while clays, not opened 
by pulverization or other means of breaking them up, 
either do not readily absorb water, or when exposed 
to long action, they retain too much of it. In the arid 
regions deep cultivation is essential to admit moisture 
from the atmosphere, as for example, the dews of night. 
In irrigated sections deep and thorough cultivation 
checks evaporation and reduces the accumulation of 
alkali salts to a minimum, besides saving water. 

Heat is tempered by deep cultivation, which is a 
great desideratum in the arid and semi-arid regions, the 
layer of pulverized soil serving the purpose of shade 
or mulch, and the evaporation retarded, the moisture 
acquires a uniform temperature. This seems to be a 
small matter in plant growth, but practical experience 
has demonstrated that it is an important part of the 
general combination of practices which result in suc- 
cessful agriculture. 

Whenever the soil is opened, turned over and oth- 
erwise prepared for planting, a portion of the atmos- 
pheric air is buried in the soil and this air so confined, 
is decomposed by the moisture retained in the earthy 
matters. Ammonia is formed by the union of the 
hydrogen of the water with the nitrogen of the atmos- 
phere, and nitre by the union of oxygen and nitrogen. 
So also, the oxygen of the air may unite with the car- 
bon contained in the soil and from carbonic acid gas. 
Heat is given out during all these chemical processes. 
As a rule farmers do not pay much attention to these 
simple facts, but the plants he is growing do, and they 



Preparation of Soil. 118 

are more or less benefited as they are permitted to take 
advantage of these laws of nature, or prevented. 

The depth of cultivation must depend upon the 
nature of the soil and the variety of plant grown in it. 
The subsoil, also, is not to be disregarded. Eich clayey 
soils can hardly be cultivated too deep, and even in 
sands, unless the subsoil contains alkali in dangerous 
quantities, or other plant poisons, deep cultivation 
should be practiced. When the roots are deep they are 
less liable to be injured by excessive water or drought; 
the radicles are shot forth into every part of the soil, 
the space from which nourishment is to be drawn be- 
ing extended over a much greater extent than when the 
seed is superficially inserted in the soil. 

In this respect cultivation should be attended with 
a thorough mixture of the soil by turning it over and 
over. Plowing, of course, accomplishes this result in 
a great measure, but the difference of gravity between 
the organic and the inorganic matters in the earth, 
has a tendency to separate them, for which reason light 
or shallow stirring of the soil is of little or no use 
practically, because it leaves the surface of the soil too 
light and spongy and the lower part too compact and 
earthy. Even where the plant roots are near the sur- 
face cultivation with a plow and a complete turning 
over of the soil is much better than the mere scratching 
of the surface, for there, as has been said, it is equiva- 
lent to root pruning. 

In a former chapter reference is made to the fact 
that plant roots consume all the food in their neigh- 
borhood, and this furnishes another obvious reason for 
deep cultivation, otherwise the roots of a new crop reach- 
ing out for nourishment find an empty cupboard. 

Some soils, however, require the opposite of pul- 
verization and demand mechanical consolidation. This 
will be understood in the case of spongy peats and light, 
dusty sands. A proper degree of adhesiveness is best 



114 The Printer of Irrigation. 

given loose soils by the addition of earthy matters in 
which they are deficient, perhaps the bringing up of 
a heavier and more consistent subsoil will accomplish 
the purpose. Rolling and treading, however, are simple 
methods, but in that case the soil must be dry, and 
the operation must not be carried too far, or so far 
as to concrete the earth, which is its constant tendency, 
as has been observed. 

A peat bog drained and rolled will sooner become 
covered with grass than one equally well drained but 
left to itself. Drifting sands, however, may well be 
rolled when wet, and by repeating the process after rains 
or floodings, they will in time acquire a surface of 
grass or herbage. Light soils should always be rolled, 
and the seeds should be "tread in" when planted, a 
pat with the hoe not being sufficient, as in the case 
of heavier soils, unless the seeds be very small. 

Exposure to the atmosphere, speaking with refer- 
ence to soils, means "lying fallow," the only benefit of 
which, and sometimes it is not a small one, is to ex- 
pose insects and their eggs, weeds and their seeds, to 
destruction. In climates where there are severe win- 
ters and hard frosts, a hard, lumpy soil becomes pulver- 
ized by the action of the frost, and soils that have be- 
come soured, sodden and baked by the tread of cattle or 
other cause in wet weather, are more rapidly sweetened 
and restored to friability by exposure to the hot sun of 
summer, than by the frosts of winter. Some maintain 
that the only benefit of fallow, that is, turning up the 
soil roughly to the atmosphere, is to free the soil from 
the roots of weeds. There is nothing, indeed, in the 
idea that the land "needs a rest," for if properly culti- 
vated, soil will keep on producing as long as there are 
any elements capable of feeding plants. The idea origi- 
nated in ancient times when lack of help to till the 
entire farm, or a deficient supply of manure, compelled 
the suspension of cultivation on certain parcels or fields. 



PreporaM&n of Soil. 11* 

It is certain that what is called an "exhausted soiP' ob- 
tains no renewing material from the atmosphere. 

To alter a soil is to add or subtract the ingredients 
which are lacking, or which exist in excess. The so- 
called "alkali soils" are an illustration of excessive in- 
gredients, and any sterile, sandy or gravelly soil may 
be regarded as one representing a deficiency of food 
producing elements. In case of sterility, the only rem- 
edy is to add the ingredients lacking, or convert sterile 
material into fertile ones by chemical means. Thus: 
where in sterile soil, on washing it, there is found the 
salts of iron or acid matters, the application of quick- 
lime will ameliorate it, and in a soil of apparently good 
texture, but sterile on account of the sulphate of iron, 
a top dressing of lime will afford a remedy by converting 
the sulphate into a manure. 

If there be an excess of calcareous matter in the 
soil it may be remedied by the application of sand or 
clay. Too much sand is improved by clay, marl, or veg- 
etable matter, and light sands are benefited by a dress- 
ing of peats, and peats improved by adding sand. The 
labor of thus improving the texture or constitution of 
the soil is more than repaid by the requirement of less 
manure, in fact, accretions in the way of new soil are a 
natural manuring and insure the fertility of the soil, 
where manure might be doubtful on account of its adding 
an excess of organic matter, which is equally as deleteri- 
ous to plant growth as too much inorganic matter. An 
equal number of tons of sand, clay, marl, or other natural 
soil, as of manure, will often tend to greater productive- 
ness than from the addition of manure. When there 
is an excess or superabundance of soil material, the 
problem of its removal is much more difficult and seri- 
ous, the reclamation of alkali lands abundantly demon- 
strating this. Ordinary sand and gravel may be plowed 
under, scraped from the surface, or partly washed off 
by flooding, particularly where the lay of the land 



116 The Primer of Irrigation. 

is sloping. In the case of alkali, as has already been 
said, drainage, or exhaustion of the soil by the culti- 
vation of gross feeding plants seems to be the reason- 
able remedy ; at all events it proves effectual. 

Burning over the soil was an ancient method, one 
used by the Eomans to alter the constituents of the 
soil, the object being to render the soil less compact, 
less tenacious, and less retentive of moisture by destroy- 
ing the elements that tend toward holding it in a con- 
crete consistency. 

It is practiced in the United States for the same 
purpose, but in the vast areas of the boundless West, 
where a man is not limited to a small acreage of the 
soil, it is not regarded as worth the labor, although it 
might in many instances be beneficial. The soils im- 
proved by burning are all such as contain too much dead 
vegetable fiber, by the burning of which they lose 
from one-third to one-half of their weight. So stiff 
clays, adobes, hardpans, and marls are improved by 
burning. But in the case of coarse sands, or where 
the elements of the soil are properly balanced, burning 
is detrimental, and the same is the case in silicious sandy 
soils after they have once been brought into cultivation. 

As to changing the condition of lands in respect 
to water, the subject belongs to irrigation, but it may 
be said here in passing, the land should be cultivated, 
having in mind the flowing of water, whether from 
irrigation or rain, so as to avoid the accumulation of 
stagnant water, which is injurious to all classes of use- 
ful plants. When the surface soil is properly consti- 
tuted and rests on a subsoil moderately porous, both 
will hold water by capillary attraction, and what is not 
so retained will sink into the substrata by its gravity; 
but when the subsoil is retentive, it will resist the per- 
colation of water to the strata below and thus accumu- 
late in the surface soil, and, making the latter "soggy," 
will cause disease to the plants. Hence the origin of 



Preparation of Soil. 117 

surface draining, that is, laying land in ridges or beds, 
or intersecting it with small, open gutters, a very good 
practice where irrigating water is used, for into them 
the water may be turned and then plowed over, left 
to come up to the surface where the plant roots can 
reach it. The alteration of land by water will be treat- 
ed in detail in its proper place under the head of "Irri- 
gation.'^ 

We have already referred to the effect of the sun's 
rays on land, and add here that in cultivating, there 
is one advantage in ridging lands and making the ridges 
run north and south, for on such surfaces the rays 
of the morning sun will take effect sooner on the east 
side, and those of the afternoon on the west side, while 
at mid-day the sun's elevation will compensate for the 
obliquity of its rays to both sides of the ridge. In 
gardening there is much advantage in observing this 
method of cultivation, for the reason that much earlier 
crops may be produced than on a level ground. Thus, 
sloping beds for winter crops may be made southeast 
and northwest, with their slope to the south, at an 
angle of forty degrees, and as steep on the north side as 
the mass of earth can be got to stand. On the south 
slope of such ground of course the crops will be earlier 
than on level ground. There is little advantage of 
this sloping, however, unless perfection of garden prod- 
uce is desirable, although the advantage of sloping is 
a diminution of evaporation and also a ready natural 
drainage. 

Although rotation of crops will be treated in a 
special chapter, the subject has a bearing upon cultiva- 
tion, or treatment of the soil, since the necessity for a 
rotation of crops seems to grow out of a diminution of 
certain plant foods desirable to certain plants, and 
there are many species of plants which require particu- 
lar substances to bring their seeds or fruits to perfec- 
tion. It may be that these particular substances are 



118 The Primer of Irrigation. 

in the soil but beyond the reach of the plant. In that 
case it is clear that a thorough mixing of the elements 
of the soil will bring the appropriate food within reach 
of the plant, or, if that can not be done, then the plant- 
ing of some other crop, and permitting it to return 
back into the soil, will afford the required food for the 
desired plant. In this place, cultivation and thorough 
mixing is advised. In the proper chapter the whole sub- 
ject will be treated in detail. 

The following are some of the root and soil pecu- 
liarities of well known plants: 

Wheat — Has feeble roots at surface, but strong tap 
roots penetrating deep into the soil. Stiff soil. 

Oats — Next to wheat, will stand stiff soil, but the 
plant throws out in the superficial layer of soil a num- 
ber of fine feeders in lateral directions, and hence the 
top soil should be light and open. 

Barley — It throws out a network of fine, short root 
fibers of no great depth and requires a light, open loam. 

Peas — Eequire a loose soil, with little cohesion, and 
spread soft root fibers deep. 

Beans — Ramify strong, woody roots in all direc- 
tions, even in a heavy and compact soil. 

Clover — Grass seeds and small seeds generally put 
forth at first feeble roots of small extent, and require so 
much the greater care in preparing the soil to insure 
their healthy growth. The pressure of a layer of earth 
a half to one inch thick suffices to prevent germination. 
Such seeds require only Just as much earth to cover 
them as will retain the needful moisture for germina- 
tion. 

Turnips, potatoes, etc. — The nature of these fleshy 
and tuberous roots clearly point out the part of the soil 
from which they draw their chief supply of food. Po- 
tatoes are found in the topmost layers of soil, whereas 
the roots of beets, turnips, parsnips, etc., send their 
ramifications deep into the subsoil, and*'will succeed 



Preparation of Soil 119 

best in a loose soil of great depth. Still they grow well 
in heavy and compact soil properly prepared for their 
reception. 

As to the length of roots it has been found that 
alfalfa will grow roots thirty feet, flax five feet, clover 
above six feet, etc., and beets have been known to send 
out a long, tapering root sixteen feet along the surface, 
an instance of which has been already noted. 

It is on the root that the farmer should bestow his 
whole care. Over that which grows from it he has 
no control, except perhaps in the way of pruning or bud 
''pinching,'' as in the case of tobacco, melons, fruits, 
etc. 



se* 



CHAPTER X. 

LAYING OUT OF THE LAND — METHOD OF PLANTING. 

Generally speaking every farmer has his land under 
his eye and knows what to do with particular portions 
of the ground. He will plant wheat in this field, 
barley over yonder, further along he expects to have 
a patch of rye. 

In the case of vegetables he follows the same prac- 
tice and plants his cabbages, his beets, turnips, etc., 
wherever the fancy moves him. It is a haphazard 
manner of farming, and to it may be attributed fail- 
ures which have been ascribed to the elements. From 
what has been heretofore said it must be apparent that 
there is something in soil and in the manner of plant- 
ing which it would be well to heed ; indeed, which must 
be heeded if success be desired and a crop assured. 
True, plants will grow if the seed be thrust in the 
ground; that is, after a fashion; and so will an ani- 
mal grow if kept alive after a fashion, but the pro- 
duce in both cases will be scrub. 

The time is coming, if it has not already arrived, 
when farmers will be able to produce as much from 
half an acre of ground as from an acre, and better 
crops. Too much land is as great a bar to success as 
too little, for in the former case there is too much 
trusting to luck, whereas in utilizing nature for the 
purpose of wresting products from the bosom of the 
earth there is not the smallest element of luck; it is 
all pure science, knowledge, ability, etc. A man with 
the trifling commercial business keeps an account of 
stock, his books show just what he has on hand, his 
sales and purchases. His inventory shows where his 
varieties of goods are located on his shelves. But when it 
comes to a farm, which is never a small business, no 
books are kept, no account of stock taken, and the 

120 



Laying Out of the Land— Method of Plcmtmg. 121 

location of his crops are retained in his mind's eye. 
More than that, quality is little regarded, the varieties 
of soil are not considered, and plants requiring one 
kind of soil are fed on a kind they do not flourish 
in. This is the common rule. 

Take any tract of land, large or small, and when 
the crop is growing there will always be spots where 
the plants are thin, sparse and sickly. Failure of proper 
cultivation? Not at all; nothing but failure to prop- 
erly lay out the land so as to know what it is suitable 
for. The pollen of a sickly plant spreads as far as 
that of a good healthy one, and poor results are attrib- 
uted to poor seed, etc., when a little care and fore- 
thought might have made the crop uniform and the 
results satisfactory. 

This is preparatory to the subject of laying out 
the land, for upon doing that properly depends the 
success it is always desirable to attain in every species 
of farming for profit. If profit be not the desideratum, 
then why go to the trouble and labor of farming? 

The proper laying out of the land is always of 
great importance, and where irrigation is practiced it 
is of the highest importance. "Water runs down hill 
and it also soaks into the soil seeking the water table, 
and this water table is always receiving additions 
through the constant or periodical application of irri- 
gation water, and rises to do damage. 

Hence, drainage is to be considered as well as the 
slope of the land. The first thing to be done is to pre- 
pare an outline of the land, its boundaries. If a square 
tract the matter will be easy, for any sized square may 
be laid down upon paper and then measured off into 
acres or parts of acres to suit the convenience. A map 
of one's land is a necessity nowadays, and it is not dif- 
ficult to prepare one. It is the farmer's diagram of 
the location of his stock, equivalent to the shelves in a 



122 The Primer of Irrigation. 

store of merchandise. It tells him the location of his 
crops, the nature of the soil, his ditches and all their 
ramifications, and if anything goes wrong he can im- 
mediately put his finger on the point of trouble and 
go at once to correct it. 

To prepare a map of the land measurements must 
be taken, and these measurements are expressed in tables 
universally adopted and can therefore always be relied 
upon as uniform. To begin with, an acre of land, 
whatever its shape, contains exactly 43,560 square feet, 
and after an outline has been traced upon paper, lines 
may be drawn from side to side and these lines crossed 
by other lines drawn from top to bottom. The map 
will then be covered with little squares which may be 
any part of an inch in size, but representing a given 
quantity of land; say one inch square on the paper 
represents an acre of ground; then if you have a farm 
of 100 acres your map will be ten inches square, if the 
land is a square, but whatever the shape of the land it 
will contain exactly 100 square inches. Not a very 
large map, but very convenient, for on it may be ex- 
pressed the exact location of crops, even to a small cab- 
bage patch, ditches, farm buildings, orchards, vines, 
etc., etc. Of course any scale to the a«re may be se- 
lected instead of one inch. If the farm is large then 
make the scale one-half inch to the acre or even less, or 
if small make the scale two inches or more, to allow 
of the least details. 

If it is desirable to make an accurate estimate of 
the amount of land in different fields under cultiva- 
tion, the following table will be of assistance : 

lOx 16 rods equals 1 A. 70x 69.5 yards equals 1 A. 

8x 20 rods equals 1 A. 220x198 feet equals 1 A. 

5x 32 rods equals 1 A. 440x 99 feet equals 1 A. 

4x 40 rods equals 1 A. 110x369 feet equals 1 A. 

5x968 yards equals 1 A. 60x726 feet equals 1 A. 

10x484 yards equals 1 A. 120x363 feet equals 1 A. 







s^e 


O^? 












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9/jeQ 


j 




I 






s^a. 


:>y ^ 












sac 


/pyoc/ 


1 


1 






1 








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■5 n 


> 






















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O 




1 

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'mutfo Z 


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I 

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o 

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C/3 



Laying Out of the Land — Method of Planting, 123 



20x242 


yards equals 


lA. 




240x181.5 feet 


equals 1 A. 


40x121 


yards equals 


lA. 




200x108.9 feet 


equals 1 A. 


80x 60.5 


yards equals 


lA. 




100x145.2 feet 


equals lA. 




100x108.9 


feet 


equals H A. 






25x100 


feet 


equals .0574 A. 






25x110 


feet 


equals .0631 A. 






25x120 


feet 


equals .0688 A. 






25x125 


feet 


equals .0717 A. 






25x150 


feet 


equals .109 A. 






2178 


sq. 


feet 


squals .05 A. 






4356 


sq. 


feet 


equals .10 A. 






6534 


sq. 


feet 


equals .15 A. 






8712 


sq. 


feet 


equals .20 A. 






10890 


sq. 


feet 


equals .25 A. 






13068 


sq. 


feet 


equals .30 A. 






15246 


sq. 


feet 


equals .35 A. 






17424 


sq. 


feet 


equals .40 A. 






19603 


sq. 


feet 


equals .45 A. 






21780 


sq. 


feet 


equals .50 A. 






32670 


sq. 


feet 


equals .75 A. 






34848 


sq. 


feet equals .80 A. 





In measuring land there are three distinct opera- 
tions to be performed: Taking the dimensions of the 
tract; delineating or laying down the same on a map, 
and calculating the area or superficial contents. All 
the tables applicable to land measurements will be 
found in the Appendix, to which the reader is referred. 

For ordinary purposes a knotted cord or tape-line 
may be used. In measuring a simple figure, as a 
square field, nothing is necessary but to measure the 
length and the breadth, which, multiplied together, will 
give the superficial area. Where fields are irregular 
shaped, it is necessary to adopt some standard guiding 
form, and from that measure the different angles, so 
as to be able, from the dimensions taken, either to 
calculate the contents at once, or to lay down the form 
of the field on paper according to the scale adopted, 
and from that ascertain its dimensions and calculate 
its contents. 

The simplest and most accurate mode of ascertain- 
ing the contents of all irregular figures is to throw 



124 The Primer of Irrigation. 

them into triangles, and this method is usually employed 
whether a small piece of irregular shaped land is to be 
measured or a vast extent of territory. To find the 
contents of a triangle all that is necessary is to mul- 
tiply half the perpendicular by the base. And this re- 
gardless of the shape of the triangle. In measuring 
land in this manner, and by a little calculation, every 
foot of land can easily be represented on paper. 

TAKING THE LEVEL. 

After the land is accurately measured, or measured 
satisfactorily to its owner, taking the level of its sur- 
face is the next thing in order, and in this there can 
not be too much care taken, particularly where irri- 
gation is practiced. Upon it depends the proper flow 
of water in ditches, the flooding of land and adequate 
drainage. 

To explain it will be necessary to be a little ab- 
struse, but the idea will be readily grasped by think- 
ing. The earth is a sphere, that is, '^round," and all 
places on its surface, whether a ten-acre tract or one 
of ten thousand, are said to be "level" when they are 
equally distant from the center of the earth, and "out 
of level" when their distances from that center are not 
equal. 

Now, because the earth is a sphere, or round, every 
level line drawn upon its surface from one point to 
another, must be a curve and part of the earth's circum- 
ference, assuming it to be perfectly smooth, or at 
least parallel with it. 

The common methods of leveling are sufficient for 
irrigation on an ordinary tract of land, but for long 
canals and ditches miles in extent, the leveling must 
be in accordance with the curved level line to corre- 
spond with the surface of the earth equi-distant from 
its surface. The usual instrument for leveling is the 
road or mason's level with telescope and compass, the 
latter to get the bearings. For ditching purposes a 



Laying Out of the Land— Method of Planting, 125 

"plumb-bob" level, a two-legged contrivance open like 
the letter A with a line fastened at the top and ter- 
minating in a pear, or "top" shaped piece of lead. In 
the exact center of the bar across the A is marked a 
notch, and when the point of the '"bob" is at that 
center notch, the line is level. Illustrations of this 
and other contrivances for leveling land will be found 
elsewhere, and referred to in the synoptical index so 
as to be easily found. 

To continue the level line a series of poles are 
necessary. These are so placed that the one nearest 
the eye conceals all the rest. To allow for inequalities 
of surface, a notch is cut in the starting pole, or at 
the point where the level line begins, and that point 
must be level with it all along the line. A small spirit 
level held to each pole, and the eye will demonstrate 
the exact level line for ail practical purposes. This 
method is sufficient for small areas, to lay the level 
of a ditch, or its laterals, but in large tracts, of course, 
a surveyor should be called in. Every farmer with a 
hundred acres to level can easily do the whole survey- 
ing himself by following this apparently crude method, 
and be as accurate in his leveling as a professional sur- 
veyor. 

Where there are curved lines to be drawn on irreg- 
ular surfaces, a hill or a knoll, for instance, being in 
the way of a straight line, the mariner's compass may 
be brought into use to ascertain bearings, and a series 
of straight lines drawn which will make skeletons for 
the curves. In fact, it is no trick at all to draw a 
level line around a hill, or curve a ditch in the shape 
of a letter S or Z, by this simple method. All these 
measurements should be traced on the map, for even 
if not used immediately they will prove useful when 
necessary to ditch, or irrigate. 



126 The Primer of Irrigation. 

The following table showing various grades per 
mile will be useful as a basis of calculation in drawing 
the level lines for ditches or general irrigation purposes : 

1 foot in 15 is 352 feet per mile 

1 foot in 20 is 264 feet per mile 

1 foot in 25 is 211 feet per mile 

1 foot in 30 is 176 feet per mile 

1 foot in 35 is 151 feet per mile 

1 foot in 40 is 132 feet per mile 

1 foot in 50 is 106 feet per mile 

1 foot in 100 is 53 feet per mile 

1 foot in 125 is 42 feet per mile 
Any desired grade or "flow'^ can be calculated by 
remembering that there are 5,280 feet in a mile. By 
dividing 5,280 feet by the number of feet in length of 
the ditch, the grade or ^^fall" will be the result, esti- 
mating one foot as the desired fall or flow of the water 
in the ditch, and the desired fall or flow may be regu- 
lated when drawing the level line by notching the 
poles used in leveling. 

ELEMENTARY INFORMATION". 

To make this land leveling business clear to the 
mind of the elementary reader, let it be supposed that 
he desires to run a ditch from one point to another. He 
has the letter A-shaped plumb-bob leveler, half a dozen 
poles ten feet or so in length, and a carpenter's spirit 
level. With these he is prepared to run practically 
level lines all over a hundred-acre tract of land. 

At the starting point ascertain the "plumb" point, 
that is, the spot over which hangs the lead bob exactly 
in the middle of the cross-bar of the A, then plant 
a pole, and at the height of the eye, say five feet, cut 
a plainly visible notch, or make any kind of a mark 
that can be seen from a distance. This is the standard 
of the entire ditch. 

Next, take another pole, your A level, and the 
ipirit level, and walk along the proposed line of ditch 
any convenient distance to a point. Four rods or so 
are not too far, less if there are obstructions to level 



Laying Out of the Land — Method of Planting. 127 

around. Lay the A level over the selected point and 
ascertain the exact level of point two, as it may be 
called. Now place the spirit level against the pole 
about the height of the eye, and look along its top just 
as if ^^sighting" a gun. Slide it up and down, if nec- 
essary, until you find the notch in the first pole, with 
the "bubble" in the spirit level exactly in the center, 
and make a notch or mark in pole number two where 
the top of the spirit level touches it. 

A calculation is easily made, for the notch on pole 
one is five feet from the surface of the ground, and by 
measuring the height from the ground of the notch in 
pole number two, any variation will mean that another 
level point must be selected, or that there must be some 
grading or digging. 

The second level point having been established, 
proceed with the third pole in the same manner, com- 
paring it with the second pole, carefully noting the 
figures on paper, and so continue until the work is 
completed. Laterals may be run in the same manner, 
and the entire parcel of land gone over, the results in 
figures showing the slope or lay of the land for every 
purpose. This leveling, if carefully and completely 
done, will show numerous grades, or slopes in the same 
parcel or tract of land, and the knowledge of this is 
extremely valuable; in fact, necessary for irrigation 
purposes, whether ditching or flooding. It is often 
a very intricate matter to irrigate every portion of a 
given field uniformly, and failure to do so always re- 
sults in lack of uniformity in any crop sought to be 
grown upon it, there being too much water on some 
parts and not enough on others. It will be under- 
stood that the w^aste of water and the loss in crop must 
exceed by far the expense of leveling the land in every 
direction. The chapter on irrigation will give details 
of flowing water on irregular surfaces, and reference 



191 The Primer of Irrigation. 

to the synoptical index will point out comprehensive 
illustrations. 

Before concluding this portion of the chapter on 
"Laying Out of Land/^ it is proper to add by way of 
information, that on July 28, 1866, the Congress of 
the United States legalized what is known as the "met- 
ric" or French system of measurements, and provided 
that "It shall be recognized in the construction of con- 
tracts * * * * as establishing in terms of the 
weights and measures now in use in the United States, 
the equivalents of the weights and measures in com- 
mon use." 

That portion of the "French" system relating to 
land measurement is given here, in case any farmer 
should fancy it in preference to the "English" sys- 
tem, which has always been used: 

MEASURES OF LENGTH. 

Metric Denominations and Equivalents in Denomina- 

Values. tions in Use. 

Myriametre . . . .10,000 metres. 6.2187 miles. 

Kilometre 1,000 metres. 0.62137 mile, or 3.280 ft. 10 in 

Hectometre 100 metres. 328 feet 1 inch. 

Dekametre 10 metres. 393.7 inches. 

Metre 1 metre. 39.37 inches. 

Decimetre 1-10 of a metre. - 3.937 inches. 

Centimetre . .1-100 of a metre. 0.3937 inch. 

Millimetre...l-1000 of a metre. 0.0394 inch. 

MEASURES OF SURFACE. 

Metric Denominations and Equivalents in Denomina- 

Values. tions in Use 

Hectare .... 10,000 sq. metres. 2.471 acres. 

Are 100 sq. metres. 119.(5 sq. yards, 

Centare 1 sq. metre. 1,550 sq. inches. 

This metrical, or decimal, system is not in com- 
mon, everyday use; on the contrary, it is rarely found 
except in Government reports. 

The matter of fencing should not be omitted in 
this place, and so estimated quantities in the conven- 
ient barbed wire fencing are here given. The table 



Laying Out of the Land — Method of Planting. 129 

gives an estimate of the nnmber of pounds of barbed 
wire required to fence the space or distance mentioned, 
with one, two or three lines of wire, based upon each 
pound of wire measuring one rod (16i/^ feet) : 

Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 
1 side of a square mile. 320 640 900 

1 rod in length 1 2 3 

100 rods in length 100 200 300 

100 feet in length 6 1/16 12 1/8 18 3/16 

METHODS OF PLANTING. 

It must not be supposed that this part of the pres- 
ent chapter will exhaust the subject of methods of 
planting. The subject is too large and important to 
be treated in one place, and it is therefore distributed 
in other chapters to follow. But it is all important to 
consider the nature of the plant which it is purposed to 
grow, and plant the seed in such manner that it will 
have room to grow and develop its seed or fruit. If 
the previous chapters have been carefully read the 
reader will remember that great stress was laid upon 
the fact that all plants are great feeders, and that 
they are so by instinct, and to attempt to compel them 
to abstain from their proper food, or limit their food 
supply on the ground of economy or indifference, or 
upon the supposition that they will grow anyhow, is 
to reduce the product of that plant proportionately. It 
is always a losing plan to restrict the food of plants, 
for that means stunting their growth. 

Now, whether the seed be sown broadcast, planted 
in drills, or the young plant transplanted, care must be 
taken that the roots have space to spread, or reach 
out for the required food. If they have not then they 
rob each other and fail to produce as desired. Plants 
are _ cannibalistic in their customs and must not be 
humored in the slightest degree. 

There is a curious fact about the growth of plants 
which may not be out of place here, inasmuch as it 



130 The Primer of Irrigation. 

will prove an addition to the reader's information con- 
cerning the peculiarities of t^e plant kingdom : Ex- 
periment has demonstrated that the smallest seeds, 
even, say the mustard or radish, sown in an absolutely 
sterile soil will produce plants in which all the organs 
are developed, but their weight after months does not 
amount to much more than that of the original seed. 
The plants remain delicate, and appear reduced or 
dwarfed in all dimensions. They may, however, grow, 
flower and even bear seed, which only requires a fer- 
tile soil to produce again a plant of natural size. 

In planting without providing room for the plant 
to feed, or sowing, or planting too many of its fellows 
in too close proximity, the soil is rendered sterile by 
over-consumption, and the plants starve or fail to pro- 
duce adequate crops. This well known fact, together 
with the application of the experiment above cited, will 
explain why, in rows of plants, there are spots where 
the plants do not grow to perfection so far as producing 
is concerned. They grow, it is true, but they are 
dwarfs. 

There is another thing to be considered also in this 
connection, which is that plants are not all robust or 
healthy in the same degree. One may be so situated as 
to its environments as to be able to develop more 
quickly than its neighbors, in which case it will "crowd 
out" its neighbors, or absorb their food, which means 
the same thing. Just as when two humans sleep in 
the same bed, the healthy and vigorous one will absorb 
the vitality of the weaker one, a well attested circum- 
stance in medical annals. 

Experience has demonstrated beyond controversy 
that there is as much of a plant under ground as above 
it, whether that plant be a tree or a cabbage, and 
hence it is not difficult to gauge the proper distances 
in planting, if perfection of growth be the desideratum. 
Few, however, pay the slightest attention to this fact, 



Laying Out of the Land— Method of Planting. 131 

and hesitate to '^prick out" the superfluous plants in 
the radish or lettuce bed, and the consequence is they 
wonder why their neighbor grows such fine cabbages 
when they have the same soil and bestow the same care 
upon them. They do not give them the same care ; the 
neighbor is economical, for he thins out his rows and 
gives the remaining plants room to grow. This means 
quality as well as perfection. 

A Chinese gardener will grow vegetables so close 
together that they will touch, and anyone watching him 
will suppose that the thinning out process is not essen- 
tial. But it is in his case as well as in all other cases, 
the only difference being, the Chinaman knowing very 
well that his plants will not grow if crowded together, 
and that they must be thinned out. But he knows the 
reason, and that reason is that they must have food in 
sufficient quantities, so he gives it to them and makes 
up for lack of space by supplying food. This is why 
the Chinaman can be seen always dosing his plants 
with liquid fertilizers. He never rests, but is always 
at work "forcing" his vegetables to grow. Anyone can 
do the same, but the average American farmer, with 
his acres of land to the Celestial's square feet, does not 
deem it necessary to crowd his plants. Moreover, to 
speak truly, forced plants are never as substantial as 
those grown naturally, and this ought to be a sufficient 
reason for so planting that every individual plant may 
be surrounded by its own storehouse without encroach- 
ing upon the preserves of its neighbors. 

The following table will assist the farmer in 
planting seed, bearing in mind always that the plant 
is as large under ground as above it, whether it be a 
tree or a cabbage. The distances are in feet, basing 
the calculation as 43,560 square feet to the acre: 



132 The Primer of Irrigation. 

Distances No. of 

Apart. Plants. 

1 xl 43,560 

1^x1^ 19,360 

2 X 1 21,780 

2 x2 10,890 

2^x2 J^ 6,969 

3 xl 14,520 

3 x2 7,260 

3 x3 4,840 

3^x35^ 3,555 

4 xl 10,890 

4 x2 5,445 

4 x3 3,630 

4 x4 2,722 

4^x4^ 2,151 

5 xl 8,712 

5 x2 4,356 

5 x3 2,904 

5 x4 2,178 

5 x5 1,742 

5^x51^ 1^417 

6 x6 1,210 

6^x6^ 1,031 

To round out the above calculation, the toW^i f^ing 
table of the quantity of seeds required in planting is 
added : 

Seeds, 

Per Oz. 
Asparagus .... 1,000 to 1,200 

Beet 1,200 to 1,500 

Carrot 20,000 to 24,000 

Cabbage 8,000 to 12,000 

Cauliflower . . . 8,000 to 12,000 

Celery 50,000 to 60,000 

Egg plant 5,000 to 6,000 

Endive 20,000 to 24,000 

Lettuce 25,000 to 30,000 

Okra 500 to 600 

Onion 7,000 to 8,000 

Parsnip 5,000 to 6,000 



Distances 


No. of 


Apart. 


Plants. 


7x 8 


888 


8x 8 


680 


9x 9 


537 


10x10 


435 


11x11 


360 


12x12 


302 


13x13 


357 


14x14 


222 


15x15 


193 


16x16 


...... 170 


17x17 


150 


18x18 


134 


19x19 


120 


20x20 


108 


24x24 


75 


25x25 


69 


27x27 


59 


30x30 


48 


40x40 


27 


50x50 


17 


60x60 


12 


66x66 


10 



Length 




of Drill, 


Vitality, 


Per Oz. 


Years. 


50 feet 


4 to 6 


100 feet 


6 to 8 


200 feet 


Ito 3 


Transplant 


4 to 6 


Transplant 


4 to 6 


Transplant 


3 to 5 


Transplant 


5 to 6 


Transplant 


8 to 10 


400 feet 


5 to 6 


50 feet 


5 to 6 


200 feet 


Ito 2 


200 feet 


110 2 



Laying Out of the Land— Method of Planting. 133 

Radish 3,000 to 4,000 100 feet 4 to 5 

Salsify 2,500 to 3,000 100 feet 4 to 5 

Spinach 2,000 to 3,000 100 feet 4 to 5 

Tomato About 20,000 Transplant 4 to 5 

Turnip 8,000 to 12,000 200 feet 6 to 7 

The quantity of seed for the space specified in the 
second column of the latter table is much too great, 
but it is the conventional quantity and is given as the 
maximum. In our garden culture all of the common 
plants mentioned are susceptible to transplanting with 
good results, even the onion; but, of course, in field 
culture chopping out with a hoe is the most advisable 
method to pursue in thinning. 




CHAPTER XI. 

LAYING OUT LAND FOR IRRIGATION. 

If the author had his way about it, he would have 
the land on each side of every main or large supply 
ditch sloped down gently fof at least one hundred and 
fifty feet, and on that slope he would plant peas, 
beans, corn, and melons and raise a good profitable 
crop without any or with very little furrow or surface 
irrigation. The seepage water would answer the pur- 
pose of sub-irrigation, or infiltration, as will be ex- 
plained in another chapter. This water aided by deep 
cultivation and pulverization of the soil would be 
sufficient to gratify his most ardent hopes. 

At the bottom of each slope would be established 
an open ditch or covered drainage system, and the 
surplus water caught and utilized for surface or furrow 
irrigation on the plat below. The land on the ditch 
slope would be plowed and cultivated parallel with 
the ditch line, and at right angles to it on the plat be- 
low the slope. 

This system of laying out the land is equivalent 
to terracing but more convenient and natural, withal, 
less expensive, for the ditches can be arranged to suit 
the slopes of- the land rather than the reverse. Should 
the land be sufficient in quantity to make it worth 
while and the topography permit, a series of slopes 
could be provided for and every drop of the usually 
wasted seepage water utilized. It is very pretty to the 
eye and looks very nice and regular on paper, but the 
author believes that although the ditches run everywhere 
in the most profuse irregularity and ugliness, destruc- 
tive even of the refinement required of landscape art, 
yet there is nothing more beautiful to his eye than 
a luxuriant crop of profitable plants. Experiment 
and settled practice has demonstrated the utility and 
value of this system all over the world. Corn, beans, 

184 



Laying Out Land for Irrigation. 135 

peas, peppers, onions, even small fruits and crawling 
berry vines growing to perfect maturity without a drop 
of water from the clouds or by artificial application, 
and as to the quality — well, they are imported into this 
country from Europe and the American epicure pays 
three times as much for them as for home productions 
because he finds them better suited to his palate. 
Every housewife knows that her window plants flourish 
and grow luxuriantlv by keeping the "saucer" of the 
flower pot filled with water without any surface wet- 
ting at all. 

The system is as old as Egypt and Babylon, and 
it is adapted to small farms and is an obviously 
economical system of increasing the duty of water 
without increasing its quantity, and it is more con- 
ducive to the perfection of plant growth and life than 
"over-dosing." 

DITCH-BANK IRRIGATION". 

The system last referred to is really what may be 
called "ditch-hank irrigation." The object of it, of 
course, is to use the water that seeps or percolates 
from the banks of a raised ditch, which is sufficient to 
moisten the slope of the bank and the soil for some 
distance outward from the base. We find that this 
system was in favor with the old Spanish settlers, who 
opened a ditch from a stream on a grade so slight that 
a very glow flow would result. The land on each side 
of this ditch was thus moistened and almost every 
variety of vegetables and small fruits were raised with- 
out other irrigation. 

To accomplish the purpose, the land is deeply 
plowed, turning under a good covering of manure, 
then harrow thoroughly until the soil is evenly settled. 
After this the land is ready for the elevated ditch 
from which the seepage water is to be obtained. This 
is done by throwing back a few furrows to form a ridge 
which shall be high enough to command the land un- 



136 The Primer of Irrigation. 

der it. The ridge is shaped evenly and the surface 
raked over, a hoe being used to mark out a narrow 
ditch. When the water is turned in the course of the 
water may be regulated with a hoe and by a little cut- 
ting and filling, so that the water will run evenly 
along the entire length of the ridge. 

In less than a week the soil along the ridge will 
be in a suitable condition to receive whatever seed or 
plant it is desired to grow; indeed, there will be as 
much space along the base of the ridge as there is on 
its slope which will be sufficiently moist. If the ground 
is not too porous, the water will percolate slowly and 
evenly and moisten the soil without cropping out at 
the surface anywhere. By thrusting the hand into 
the soil it will be found that the percolating water is 
■within an inch of the surface, but never quite reaches 
it, due probably to surface evaporation. As will be 
noticed in the case of sand, the surface may be dry 
but water-soaked an inch or so below. 

The number of ridges may be multiplied to suit 
the quantity of surface it is desirable to irrigate in 
that fashion, and they may be made large enough to 
control a quarter or half an acre. Even though the 
land at the base is perfectly flat, the water flows down 
the slope and spreads out along the levels. Should 
the land be sloping generally, the overflow from the 
first or highest ditch may be troughed to a lower one 
and so on indefinitely. Wooden troughs of four-inch 
stuff nailed together in the form of a V, with two or 
three cross-cleets at the top to prevent warping, are 
very serviceable, and being about sixteen feet in length, 
comparatively light, and therefore easy to handle, may 
be made to reach any desired distance by overlapping. 
Or, the overflow from a series of these ridge ditches 
may be collected into one ditch and carried to small 
fruits or joined with a larger stream. The simplicity 
of the arrangement, though requiring some labor at 



Laying Out Land for Irrigation. 187 

first in establishing the proper grade, fairly compen- 
sates for that work and care, for during the rest of the 
season the irrigation is automatic, that is, it goes on 
uninterruptedly and without any assistance. All the 
repairs needed will be a few strokes of the hoe, a 
trifle of raking, and the land will always be ready for 
any kind of crop or succession of crops. Care should 
be taken not to puddle the bottom or sides of the ridge 
ditches, as in case of a reservoir. On the contrary the 
water should occasionally be shut off and the ditch 
raked up to open the soil, for the object of these ditches 
is not to store or hold water, but to enable the water to 
seep or leach out into the soil. 

There is never any danger of the soil becoming 
soggy, for the quantity of water is small, regulated to 
suit the demands of the plants, and to allow for a 
slight evaporation. 

DEPRESSED BEDS. 

Growing out of the ditch-bank irrigation is the 
depressed or sunken bed system, which is quite similar, 
the water being fed from ridge ditches, but instead 
of percolation the water is run directly over and upon 
the soil after the manner of flooding. The land is not 
sloped but is flat, or level, a small flow, however, being 
desirable rather than objectionable. It is adapted to 
very light and unretentive soils and for shallow root- 
ing plants like strawberries. 

The land is laid out in rectangular checks, or any 
other desired form, and around the sides of the checks 
are elevated ridges upon the top of which are laid 
ditches in which the water flows slowly and quietly. 
The water is admitted to the checks from several 
points at the same time and distributes itself over the 
surface uniformly, slowly soaking into the soil. 

In the hot summer months when it is desirable to 
maintain the growth of shallow rooted plants, it is 
an- admirable system, and is enhanced in its effects by 



138 The Primer of Irrigation. 

spreading over the soil a mulch of rotten straw, or 
coarse manure under which, protected from the sun, 
the water slowly spreads with very little evaporation. 
It possesses more beneficial aspects than mulching and 
sprinkling, for the reason that the water is retarded by 
the presence of the mulch from reaching the roots of 
the plants, where it is needed, and evaporation is much 
more rapid. 

For the hot, dry season, where there is no danger 
of over-saturating the soil, the depressed bed is avail- 
able for all kinds of vegetables, small fruits and flow- 
ers, the use of it showing marvelous results. 

The system is in common use in Europe, where 
the heat is not excessive, and where a light sandy soil 
is under cultivation. It is the system adopted by the 
market gardeners in the sand hills south of the city of 
San Francisco, where the vegetable gardeners have 
transformed large areas of apparently worthless land 
into terraces, and on these have arranged depressed 
beds in which enormous quantities of succulent vege- 
tables are grown for the city market. The water is 
raised by windmills and pumps from wells sunk in low 
spots, and delivered to small flumes which run from 
the windmill towers to the opposite hillsides. The 
water is flowed upon the highest terrace and conveyed 
thence by means of troughs and small ridge ditches 
from terrace to terrace and all the beds filled. 

In all cases of surface or ditch irrigation the land 
must be laid out to suit the flow of the water, which is 
necessarily down hill, so to speak. If the land is not 
smooth on a level or slope, it must be leveled or 
graded by means of a scraper or other device for re- 
moving uneven portions and hillocks. If the land is 
too uneven to be irrigated uniformly, then sub-irriga- 
tion is the only remedy, or piping water to the tops of 
the ridges, or by establishing a reservoir on the highest 
spot^ and thence running ditches in every direction 



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Laying Out Land for Irrigation. 139 

after tracing or laying out the courses with the leveler 
as related in another and previous chapter. 

As much care must be taken proportionately in 
field culture as in the case of small kitchen gardens, 
the principle being the same. 

To put land in shape to irrigate it should first be 
plowed as deep as possible and then cut into beds of a 
larger or smaller size, depending upon the quantity of 
land to be irrigated and the amount of water at the 
disposal of the farmer. This may be done by means 
of a drag constructed in the shape of the letter A, 
from eight to twelve feet and more at the bottom, run- 
ning to a point at the top. The land is dragged by 
drawing the A-shaped contrivance point first across 
the field from side to side. The wide spreading ends 
of the drag gather in the loose earth, clods and other 
rough material and heap them up behind in the shape 
of a ridge. These beds may be made from sixteen to 
eighty feet wide and ten to forty rods long; it all 
depends upon the quantity of water at hand to fill 
them. 

After the field has been laid off into beds, the 
ground between the ridges must be leveled if uneven 
or humpy, and for this purpose a scraper will be serv- 
iceable. By it the humps should be scraped into the 
low places, and then a harrow may be used and the 
leveling process finished with a board leveler, well 
w^eighted down. This is nothing more than a strong 
thick plank weighted with stones and dragged back 
and forth over the beds until they are in a perfect con- 
dition to receive water uniformly upon the surface. 
The ends of the beds should come up close to the main 
ditch, or to the large lateral ditch, so that the water 
can be turned on in full volume. These beds may be 
irrigated one after the other by flooding, or by furrow 
irrigation.^ Indeed, there is no limit "to the manner 
of irrigating, the great desideratum being to spread 



140 The Primer of Irrigation. 

the water uniformly over the entire bed. It will be per- 
ceived that the system is similar to that of the smaller 
depressed bed-irrigation, except that the ridge ditches 
are not used, the ridges around the large beds being 
used to retain the water and to mark out the land in 
such shape and sized plats as to correspond with the 
quantity of water on hand. The flow of water must 
be sufficient so that it will rapidly cover the bed, and 
if that is deficient then the beds must be made smaller, 
otherwise the plants at the upper end of the bed will 
flourish and produce well, whereas those at the lower 
end will be sickly and produce little if anything. This 
often happens in the case of corn, potatoes, etc., when 
the water runs either too rapidly or too slowly into the 
furrows. The slope of the land should be such as to 
provide a quick rush of water all along the line, and 
its standing in the furrows to slowly soak into the 
soil. For this purpose the source of the water supply 
must be considerably higher than the land to be irri- 
gated, and the quantity delivered large enough to fill 
quickly. Too slow a flow and too small a quantity will 
soak the upper end of the bed and give the lower part 
too little. 

One important thing to be guarded against in 
laying out the land for irrigation is to avoid the wash- 
ing out of the soil by the action of the flowing water. 
Inasmuch as the land irrigated is always under culti- 
vation and loosely put together after the action of the 
plow, it is very easily washed into gullies, and every 
gully means a lessening of fertility. There is not so 
much danger in this respect when the land is covered 
with a heavy crop and flooded, because then, the plants 
will retard the rush of water and prevent damage by 
washing. But in furrow irrigation, the furrow soon 
may become a deep gully which the plow and cultivator 
can not remove, and every subsequent application of 
water will enlarge. To obviate this it is good farm- 



Laying Out Land for Irrigation. 141 

ing to make the furrows short by damming with a 
quantity of earth, and when one furrow — the first one 
— is well filled, remove the temporary dam and let the 
water flow down into another short furrow. This will 
be the opening up of a succession of reservoirs which, 
being small, will not be liable to cause any damage, 
and will permit a speedy watering of the entire row of 
plants. 



<^^ 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE USB or WELLS^ STREAMS, DITCHES AND RESERVOIRS 

TO DISPOSE OF THE TREMENDOUS SUPPLY 

OF WATER. 

Statistics show that the mean annual rainfall of 
the world is thirty-six inches, which is about 50,000,- 
000 cubic feet per square mile of the earth's surface 
per annum, a quantity of water which is amazing when 
reduced to gallons so as to bring it more readily within 
the average comprehension. 

A gallon of water. United States standard, weighs 
eight and one-third pounds and contains 231 cubic 
inches. As there are 17 28 cubic inches in a cubic foot, 
a simple calculation will show that the annual rainfall 
on every tract of land equal to 640 acres amounts to 
374,026,000 gallons, or, reducing it to weight, 1,558,- 
442 tons of water, being about 2,435 tons per acre. It 
will, of course, be understood that all this water is not 
equally distriJDuted, but it all falls upon the earth 
somewhere and is taken up by the soil in the same pro- 
portionate am-ount as by the oceans and seas. The 
calculation might be made more accurate by assuming 
that the surface of the earth is about one-third land 
and two-thirds water, and that, therefore, only one- 
third of this enormous quantity of water is taken up by 
the land, but we are dealing with averages and the rec- 
ord must stand as written. 

This tremendous supply of water must be disposed 
of by nature in some adequate manner^ for if allowed 
to stand and accumulate the earth would soon be sub- 
merged. Fortunately, Dame Nature disposes of it, 
except when an inundation somewhere sweeps away 
towns and country, showing that she herself is overbur- 
dened with the supply. The rain falls and is carried 

14S 



The Use of Wells, Streams, Ditches, Etc, 148 

off the land so far as the surplus that is not drunk in 
by the ever-thirsty soil is concerned, by means of 
brooks, rivulets, streams, rivers and mighty waterways 
into the ocean for transformation by evaporation into 
more rain. A large portion of it remaining on the 
land also evaporates, that is, transformed into vapor, 
which hangs in the atmosphere, invisible except to 
touch, when the weather is "damp," as is said, or 
gathers into clouds which empty their contents back 
upon the earth. So far, the action of evaporation and 
rainfall is equal and the equilibrium or eternal balance 
of nature is maintained. 

SUEFACE WATER. 

But an enormous portion of the fallen rain does 
not return into the atmosphere, whence it came, to re- 
peat its beneficial and grateful performance; it pene- 
trates into the soil, percolates through a myriad of 
pores, cracks and crannies, until it accumulates beneath 
the surface of the earth, sometimes at immense depths, 
and forms subterranean streams and reservoirs. Some- 
times, when the soil is unyielding, the percolating water 
does not attain the dignity of a subterranean stream 
or reservoir, but is held in the grasp of the soil above 
some impervious or impenetrable stratum of rock or 
hard pan, and becomes what is known as "surface 
water," a water table which throws off moisture to be 
carried to the surface by capillary attraction. 

It is a maxim in physics, "nature abhors a vacu- 
um,'' and so whenever there is a vacant place the water 
fills it, and thus there is a never ending supply of 
water from rain or melting snow which is practically 
rain in another form. The fact that there are rain- 
less, arid regions does not alter the fact, for somewhere 
beyond them in the mountains is the supply of water 
the rainless belt should receive, and it sinks beneath 
the arid lands waiting to be drawn up to the surface 
by the ingenuity of man, it being prevented from do- 



144 The Primer of Irrigation. 

ing so of its own accord by insurmountable obstacles 
in the soil. 

The method of reaching these subterranean de- 
posits of water, underground reservoirs and water ta- 
bles, is by what is commonly called "a well/^ When 
a well is dug down into the water table or surface 
water, say from four to six feet in diameter or any 
other size deemed adequate to insure a good supply 
of water, and from ten to 100 feet in depth, and curbed 
with stone or mitred plank, and a windlass and bucket 
arranged at the top, or a common suction pump, a cer- 
tain amount of water supply is assured. For domestic 
purposes, perhaps to irrigate a small garden patch, 
where labor is of little consideration, a well with the 
above pumping apparatus will serve, but few farmers 
will rest content with this ancient system of procuring 
a water supply, and if anyone aspires to cultivate the 
soil «nd irrigate he must largely extend his plant. 

QUANTITY OF WATER NEEDED. 

To estimate the quantity of water that the irriga- 
tion farmer must provide, it is necessary to go into a 
few details as to the quantity required to raise a crop. 
That quantity he must have or go out of business. 

To irrigate a few acres successfully it may be 
necessary to have a supply of water running up into 
the hundreds of thousands of gallons. Taking rainfall 
as the standard of water needed to grow a crop, we find 
that one inch of rain on an acre of ground is equiva- 
lent to 27,154 gallons, and for the purposes of irri- 
gation, that is, to give the ground a good wetting, at 
least two inches of water are necessary, more being re- 
quired in some localities. 

Professor King has made the following estimate 
of the quantity of water required during the growing 
season in various localities; 



The Use of Wells, Streams, Ditches, Etc. 145 

Wisconsin 34 inches per acre 

California 7i/^ to 20 inches per acre 

Colorado 22 inches per acre 

India 48 inches per acre 

France and Italy 50 inches per acre 

To still further go into the details of the quantity 
of water required to grow a crop to maturity, Professor 
King gives che following table of amounts of water 
necessary to produce the certain plants dry: 

Pounds of Water to Each 
Pound Dry Product. 

Dent corn 309 

Flint com 233 

Bed clover 452 

Barley 392 

Oats 552 

Field peas ; 477 

Potatoes 422 

Eye 353 

This enormous quantity of water which must be 
provided for the needs of plants is not an alarming 
amount when it is considered that it may be obtained 
very cheaply by modern machinery where the water 
supply is adequate and a proper arrangement of ditches 
and reservoirs is made to economize it, the universal ten- 
dency being always toward waste. 

WHERE OPEN WELLS ARE A SUCCESS. 

Ordinary open wells are more successful in clay 
and stone than in sand, there being far less liability of 
the water running out, the bottom of the well being a 
retaining reservoir, which may be greatly enlarged by 
tunneling out to any safe distance into the water table 
or water stratum. Where the water stratum is in sand 
it is better to use screen points, that is, tubing with 
perforated ends, which admit the water but keep out 
the sand. Several of these screen points may be run 



146 The Primer of Irrigation. 

down into the water-bearing sand stratum at a suffi- 
cient distance to prevent one robbing the other, and 
all be connected with a suction pipe. Experience tells 
that these screens should be run down to the bottom 
of the water-carrying sand if possible, and that in 
any event they should be sized according to the depth of 
the strata. 

To accomplish this purpose successfully in wells 
an open well large enough for two men to work in 
should be sunk down to the sand and curbed to pre- 
vent caving. Then by driving ordinary gas piping as 
a casing for the screens and boring with a common 
auger, the screens may be lowered to any depth, or if 
the water-bearing sand is very deep a succession of 
screens may be put down on top of each other to en- 
large the water supply. 

Assuming the water supply to be adequate for the 
purposes of reasonable irrigation from a well, the next 
question is how to raise the water in the most eco- 
nomical manner. Economy is wealth in irrigation 
more than in any other business. Horace Greeley 
boasted that he raised the finest potatoes in the country, 
but they cost him about $2.50 each, and his milk cost 
him the same price as the finest imported champagne 
wine. 

WINDMILL IRRIGATION. 

Aside from human muscle and ox or horse-power 
drawing water in the ancient fashion, and still practiced 
in Asia, the simplest and least expensive method of 
raising water is by windmill. A sixteen-foot windmill 
connected with a storage reservoir will raise water 
enough to irrigate fully ten acres. But the windmill 
could not deliver the amount of water demanded if the 
supply were used at the same time as the pumping, 
hence the necessity of constructing a reservoir in which 
to store the water. With this reservoir the windmill may 
be made to pump constantly and provide a supply of 



The Use of Wells, Streams, Ditches, Etc. 147 

water against the time of need. One with a capacity 
of several millions of gallons may be constructed with- 
out great expense, as will be described on another 
page. 

Instead of a windmill, a centrifugal pump may 
be used which will raise water to a height of about 
fifty feet at a cost of less than 30 cents per million 
gallon€. These pumps are geared to be operated either 
by steam or gasoline engines. Where there is plenty of 
fuel or coal is accessible, steam power is advisable, but 
where fuel is scarce or expensive the use of gasoline is 
naturally more economical. 

In central Asia, which includes Persia and the 
surrounding countries, the water of the brooks and 
mountain streams seeps through the porous conglom- 
erate^ formation and disappears deep in the earth, 
forming subterranean streams. Owing to the nature 
of the soil, canals and ditches would not be of much 
utility, and hence recourse is had to a system of irri- 
gation by means of a group of deep wells dug at the 
base of the mountains. These wells are connected to- 
gether by underground galleries which terminate in a 
large well, which answers the purpose of a reservoir. 
Along down the valley some distance from the large 
well are established a series of dry cisterns about 150 
feet apart, the bottoms of which are lower than that 
of the well reservoir. The depth of these cisterns di- 
minishes gradually until the last one is reached, the 
depth of which may not exceed eighteen inches. 

All of these wells and cisterns are connected to- 
gether by galleries large enough for a man to pass 
through in a stooping position. This arrangement of 
wells^ and cisterns with their connecting galleries is 
sufficient to supply an open canal which carries water 
to the valley, the whole length of the irrigating sys- 
tem ranging from two to thirty miles. Direct conduits 
and piping have been used, but discarded owing to the 



148 The Primer of Irrigation. 

tremendous depth of the wells and the fact that the 
water is seepage water, not collecting fast enough to 
be piped. Sometimes water is run into these subter- 
ranean reservoirs and the water supply thereby aug- 
mented largely. 

This system of connecting a number of wells with 
tunnels or galleries has been tried in the United States 
and has proved satisfactory in providing an increased 
water supply by means of an underground reservoir. 
Deep cisterns have also been tried for the same pur- 
pose, but the most common practice is to run a tunnel 
or gallery out from the bottom of a single well, in 
fact several of them, if the formation will permit. If 
sunk on high ground a flow of water may be secured 
from below by piping, otherwise pumping must be re- 
sorted to, which is the case when the wells are very 
deep. 

All the rising subterranean waters are essentially 
artesian, whatever the depth of the bore of well which 
strikes the vein. 

An artesian well is nothing more than one 
branch, end" or leg of a tube or pipe, the other end, or 
intake, of which is at a greater or less elevation above 
the outlet. The fact that such wells are so called from 
the city of Artois, in France, where deep flowing or 
spouting wells were first sunk or bored, has nothing to 
do with the characteristics of the water supply, pro- 
vided it rise in the well, flows over the mouth or spouts 
up into the air. In such cases it is evident that the 
water is not what is usually called surface, seepage 
or drainage water, although there is very little differ- 
ence. 

The value of the artesian well, which is bored deep 
into the earth, lies in the fact that its elevated source 
is constantly being replenished with a supply of water 
greater than that used for irrigation or other purposes. 
In the case of water from a saturated soil, or water 



The Use of Wells, Streams, Ditches, Etc. 148 

that has percolated down through porous ground 
through cracks and crannies to find reservoirs, the sup- 
ply depends upon the amount of rainfall or seepage. 
In ordinary wells, to draw water by constant pumping 
for adequate irrigation is to soon exhaust the stored 
supply, or ground water, there being no source to re- 
plenish it. 

But in the case of artesian wells in the arid re- 
gions the source of the subterranean water which rises, 
flows over the mouth or spouts up into the air, is in 
a region where the precipitation of water in the form 
of rain or snow is much greater than can be utilized, 
or the underlying water plane is supplied from the per- 
ennial flow of large rivers or streams fed from a never- 
failing watershed. 

It is essential to artesian water that it be confined 
under pressure beneath a cover. All water in porous 
soils, if the pores are to be filled to saturation, must 
rest upon a floor of practically impervious material. 
Underground water has a slow motion on account of 
the resistance of friction, and accumulates, assuming a 
nearly horizontal position along its upper surface, as 
it does in an open pond or reservoir. This is its na- 
ture. Now, if an overlying impervious bed has an in- 
clination steeper than the inclination of this water 
plane, its dip may bring it into contact with the water. 
Down grade from the line of meeting of the water 
plane with the under surface of the more steeply in- 
clined impervious cover, the conditions of confinement 
under pressure exist, and beyond this line of contact 
or meeting the ground water will be artesian — that is, 
when it finds an outlet it will rise, seeking to attain 
the portion or level its surface would have were it not 
for the obstacle in the shape of the overhanging rock 
or impervious bed in its way. 

When this impervious covering is perforated by 
boring a well, the question whether there will result 



160 The Primer of Irrigation. 

a flowing well, or a mere rise to some higher level with- 
in the bore hole, will depend on what the level of the 
ground surface may be. If at that point the ground 
surface happens to be above the grade plane of the 
confined underground water, there can not be a flowing 
well. 

TAKING WATER FROM STREAMS AND RIVERS. 

There are four varieties of natural water courses, 
the waters of which, when used for the purpose of irri- 
gation, require different machinery or appliances to 
control. 

First — The slow current, to control the water of 
which all that is necessary is a simple sluice gate that 
may be opened or closed by any contrivance which can 
be raised or lowered or moved to and fro sideways to 
admit or stop the flow of water or regulate its quantity. 
At a point above the level of the land to be irrigated a 
three-sided box is sunk, the bottom of which is below 
the regular surface of the water and the top above the 
surface of the leveled bank. 

The end toward the water is fitted between two 
uprights on each side of the box, which form grooves 
to permit the slide to be moved or pushed down to con- 
trol the supply of water. Or, the "gate,^' as it is proper 
to call the sliding end of the box, may be in two parts 
hinged at each side and swinging open in the middle 
like the gates of a transportation canal, care being 
taken to have the two wings of the gate open up stream 
so that the pressure of the water will not throw them 
open automatically. 

These two simple principles of an intake and 
shutoff gate is the basis of all contrivances for admit- 
ting water from a slow moving stream, whether the land 
to be irrigated consist of 100 or 1,000 acres. There 
are many varieties of them, some in iron and steel and 
constructed of massive masonry to accommodate an 




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The Use of Wells, Streams, Ditches, Etc. 151 

enormous flow of water, but all of them are substan- 
tially based upon the idea given above. 

Second — Rapid current streams, or mountain tor- 
rents, require a dam to reduce the current before it en- 
ters the water gate, or else the latter would be soon 
torn out or undermined by the swirl of the waters. 
This is the object of the dam: to create a smooth, 
placid sheet of water, similar to the surface of a pond 
or reservoir, and from it admit water in through the 
water gate. This dam, if the current is very swift, 
may be constructed at right angles with the bank, that 
is, straight out into the stream. This will form a 
breakwater, a quiet harbor, so to speak, and the water 
wil become still inside of it. 

Third — Dry rivers. Dry river beds are common 
everywhere in the arid and semi-arid regions. They 
are often alluded to as ^'^rivers with their bottom on 
top," being dry nearly always except during the rainy 
season, when a greater or less body of water flows in 
their channel, according to the quantity of rainfall 
within reach of the watershed which supplies them. 

Although surface-dry for eight or nine months of 
every year, there is in most cases an underground sup- 
ply of water sufficient to supply an enormous quantity 
of water by sinking cribbed reservoirs and pumping. 
For the ordinary purposes of irrigation these streams 
must be dammed to create a reservoir which will retain 
the water when it flows, and back it up high enough 
to reach the head gates of the irrigating ditches along 
its banks. These streams are not always as peaceable 
as they seem, for they are often converted into raging 
torrents that carry away every obstacle in their path. 
Hence the damming of them requires the highest en- 
gineering skill and the most substantial material to 
dam up the water, for no one can tell whether the 
stream will run a small quantity of water or inundate 
the country around about. 



152 The Primer of Irrigation. 

An arroyo is the Spanish for a small cut or open- 
ing between low hills, and refers to a small stream or 
rivulet that sometimes flows through it. These water 
courses are not streams, properly speaking, but rather 
waterways, for they have no subterranean or under- 
ground water, and what does iiow in or through them 
is adventitious or accidental, depending upon the quan- 
tity of rainfall. 

These arroyos are quite common in all hilly land 
in the West and Southwest, and sometimes reach the 
dignity of mountain torrents, but in a few days they 
run dry and the water is lost. Much of this water may 
be saved for irrigating purposes in a variety of ways. 
Damming is not advisable generally, for the dry stream 
may become an irresistable torrent and sweep every- 
thing out of its path. A partial or wing dam in most 
cases will hold the water for several weeks, perhaps 
three months, and permit it to slowly seep down into 
the soil for the benefit of the land below, or, where the 
lay of the land on the hillsides is favorable, running 
deep furrows parallel with the slope will restrain the 
water from flowing too rapidly down the watershed, 
and thus also permit it to seep slowly into the soil, 
and if followed up will eventually result in creating a 
water table into which shallow wells may be sunk for 
pumping purposes. 

Where the land is sloping below a hill or series 
of hills deep furrowing with a sidehill plow at inter- 
vals of say six feet from the top to the bottom of the 
hill with a succession of rough furrows at the bottom 
will save up or store enough water to irrigate by infil- 
tration many acres of land for corn, potatoes, melons 
and vines generally. Experiments demonstrate that 
this process will equal two irrigations of an inch each, 
and by careful, constant cultivation a good crop of 
com or potatoes, even melons, peas and beans, may be 
grown without any irrigation, the subsoil being moist 



The Use of Wells, Streams, Ditches, Etc. 158 

and kept so by deep tillage while the crop is grow- 
ing. 

Varieties of head gates, the direct drawing af water 
from rivers and streams and damming are not given, 
for the reason that such appliances are not within the 
control of the individual irrigation farmer, but are 
under the management of the State, the federal Gov- 
ernment or of water companies. The idea is all that 
is necessary in this article, and from the idea given 
the farmer may apply the principle to ditches and 
reservoirs over which he has control on his own land. 



♦ 



CHAPTEE XIII. 

THE SCIENCE AND AET OF IRRIGATION. 

The main object of irrigation should always be 
borne in mind; that is: nature having withheld from 
plants the moisture necessary to their growth, it be- 
comes necessary to supply the omission. When that 
object has been attained, the work of the irrigator ends, 
and to continue farther would be detrimental to the 
soil, and injurious to plants instead of beneficial. 

Given a certain tract of land, and a water supply, 
the question which confronts the irrigation farmer is: 
How shall the water be applied to the best advantage? 
It must occur to him that there can not be one fixed, 
rigid system of applying water to the soil, for he can 
perceive by looking about him that there are widely dif- 
ferent varieties of plants, and opposite conditions of 
soil which preclude a uniform system of irrigation. 

Scientific writers, and practical men, those who 
have studied the subject from the earliest ages, and in 
every country, have suggested more than a dozen dif- 
ferent systems, but practical irrigators of modern times, 
men who have acquired experience by practical experi- 
ments, some of them costly, in our sixteen arid and 
sub-humid States, have settled upon four distinct sys- 
tems of irrigation as amply sufficient for every condi- 
tion of soil and climate, for economically supplying 
plants and soil with life-giving moisture. 

Let the reader recall what has already been said 
on the subject in previous chapters, that except in the 
case of aquatic plants, it is not water or rather wetness 
that is essential to the perfection of plant life, but 
moisture. True, it is from water that moisture is de- 
rived, but when water is converted into moisture it is 
no longer water, but plant food. When a man eats 
meat and vegetables, he is not eating oxygen, hydrogen, 

154 



The Science and Art of Irrigation. 155 

nitrogen, carbonic acid, and the like, he is eating, how- 
ever, combinations of those chemical substances, com- 
binations which he, himself, can not create by devour- 
ing the chemicals themselves in an original state. To 
attempt to do so would be his speedy death, notwith- 
standing the theories concerning the value of dieting 
on certain artificial chemical combinations known as 
'Tiealth foods/' 

Water is poured into or upon the soil; gravity 
draws it downward; the particles of earth seize upon 
what they require, and the surplus water continues to 
descend until it reaches a water table, or is carried off 
through drainage appliances. Then capillary action be- 
gins, and the moisture ascends, and it and the nutritive 
elements it has gathered from the soil is seized upon 
by the roots of plants and devoured, that is absorbed, 
and the plant grows and waxes perfect upon the meat 
with which it is fed. 

The four systems of irrigation referred to are as 
follows : 

First — FLOWING, or ditch irrigation, where the 
water is run over the land through ditches or furrows 
intersecting the land to be watered. 

Second — FLOODING, where the water is made to 
cover the land entirely at any desired depth, and is 
either allowed to remain stagnant, or stationary, or 
possesses a slight current. 

Third— INFILTRATION, or seepage, in which 
the water is carried to the roots of plants by means of 
open ditches, or through subterranean waterways, in 
which case it is termed SUB-IRRIGATION. 

Fourth — ASPERSION, or sprinkling, in which 
the water is applied in a shower, or as an imitation 
rain. Watering with a common garden sprinkling pot, 
or rubber hose, will give an idea of this system. 

The first of these systems constitutes irrigation in 
the strict sense of the word, wherever water is utilized 



156 The Primer of Irrigation, 

as a fertilizer of the soil, or an agent of humidity or 
moisture. The latter system relates to watering small 
garden plants, and flowers, and is commonly applied by 
means of some sprikling apparatus suitable to the size 
of the garden patch, and the quantity of water to be 
applied. It is not serviceable in hot dry regions and 
seasons because of rapid evaporation which makes it 
less economical than the others. 

The choice of these systems, excluding the last, is 
subordinated to the nature of the soil, and topography, 
or "lay" of the land, the species of plants and the kind 
of culture, the quality and level of the water, and par- 
ticularly to the disposable volume of the latter. In 
fact, two principles based upon the volume, or quantity 
of irrigating waters, regulate their use : The utilization 
of the maximum quantity of water obtainable to irri- 
gate a given surface, or an increase of the irrigable sur- 
face to correspond with the maximum quantity of 
water. 

The first principle is applicable to the sub-humid 
sections where there is a certain amount of rainfall in 
the winter months with dry summers, or a "dry season," 
like the Pacific Coast States, New Mexico, Arizona, and 
portions of Texas, or snow in winter as in Colorado, 
Wyoming, and the other northerly States. 

In these localities, the rain and snow store in the 
soil a greater or less volume of water, which serves not 
only to fertilize it, but to keep it in a condition which 
will enable vegetation to either continue to grow with- 
out stopping, or to sprout in the early spring without 
preliminary irrigation. 

In the warmer regions, however, there are dry 
belts, where the rainfall is so slight as to be unservice- 
able to perfect a crop, and in these belts little will grow 
without irrigation. To these localities may be applied 
the second principle. 

Between these limits, principles, or conditions, are 



The Science and Art of Irrigation. 157 

grouped numerous variations in plant growth, in aid 
of which irrigation supplies the means of rationally 
utilizing water for crop growing purposes. These vari- 
ations will be taken up under the explanation of the 
four systems alluded to. 

FLOWING, DITCH AND FURROW IRRIGATION. 

On a naked tract of inclined, or sloping land, water 
follows the heaviest grade with an increasing speed or 
flow. When the same tract is covered with growing 
plants, the flow of water is retarded by the resistance 
of the plants, until an equilibrium is established, which 
requires more or less time according to the steepness of 
the grade and the character of the plants, and then the 
water flows with a uniform velocity, the same as if the 
land were naked. When that equilibrium has been 
reached, reason tells the irrigator to stop the water 
supply or the surface will be cut into gullies. 

When the grade is very slight, the water, being un- 
able to attain sufficient velocity, is lost in the soil before 
it can cover the entire tract. 

In the former case, the zone of irrigation must be 
narrowed, and in the second, the lateral or distributing 
ditches must be brought closer together. When the sur- 
face soil is undulating, or irregular, the water spreads 
out unevenly, in which case the distributing laterals 
must be brought still closer together, and arranged to 
correspond with the irregularities to avoid gullying. 

Flowing is adapted to land the slope or grade of 
which is between four and two per cent per running 
yard. On steeper grades, irrigation is effected more 
isconomically by arranging a series of levels or plateaus. 

On feeble grades, the quantity of water increases 
by accumulation and remains longer in a stagnant con- 
dition, but in general, by this system of irrigation the 
water is more fully aerated and its fertilizing power 
increased. 



158 The Primer of Irrigation, 

On large fields, water flowing over steep grades 
being imore rapid, the ditches or water furrows should 
be more numerous, to enable the soil to gather from the 
water whatever fertilizing material it holds in suspen- 
sion. 

Where the grade is very slight, drainage may be 
necessary to carry off an excess of water. After culti- 
vation is always necessary as soon as the soil is in a 
suitable condition, from twelve to twenty-four hours 
being sufficient time according to the climatic condi- 
tions of heat and cold. 

In all cases of ditch and furrow irrigation, it must 
be remembered that the less the number of distributing 
ditches or furrows, the less the quantity of water turned 
into the soil. ^ 

IRRIGATION BY FLOODING. 

(Submersion.) 

In the system of irrigation by flowing, whatever 
method be adopted, running water over the land, or 
drawing it from ditches through furrows, the best con- 
ditions for utilizing water are realized, that is to say, 
60 far as movement, aeration, double use, and facility 
of distribution are concerned. It is possible to avoid 
direct contact of the water with plants, thus retaining 
essential atmospheric influences, and also regulating 
the temperature of soil and vegetation. In this latter 
case, it is reasonable to suppose that even in the arid, 
hot regions, the application of cold water direct from a 
mountain stream, or surface well, would check vegeta- 
tion, an effect which is always deleterious to all grow- 
ing crops. 

But there are circumstances when flooding or sub- 
mersion of the soil is not only convenient but more 
beneficial, inasmuch as it supplies the soil with mois- 
ture to a greater depth, thus furnishing deep rooted 
plants with food material. Eeference to alfalfa will 
make this clear. 




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The Science and Art of Irrigation. 159 

Irrigation by flooding is simply submerging a 
given tract of land, by covering it with a sheet of water 
more or less deep, and allowing it to remain upon it a 
certain time, to "soak'' into the soil before drawing it 
off to use on some other tract. 

On flat or level ground, preparations for submer- 
sion are simple and easy. It suffices to smooth the sur- 
face by reducing knolls and filling cavities or hollows 
by means of a plow, cultivator, or road scraper, and 
then throwing up ridges of earth or dikes around the 
edge of the tract to retain the water. 

It is an essentially economical method of irriga- 
tion, and is adapted to land and plants which do not 
require continuous or periodical applications of water. 
Its advantages are that it irrigates uniformly; utilizes 
all the water applied, it being absorbed except the small 
fraction lost by evaporation." Again, it tends to enrich 
the soil more than any other system by giving the vari- 
ous organic and inorganic solutions suspended in the 
water time to be deposited upon and carried into the 
soil. Lastly, it insures the destruction of insects and 
their larvae injurious to plants. 

Opposed to its advantages are the following de- 
fects : 

The plants are submerged either totally or par- 
tially, and the essential atmospheric influences sus- 
pended; the surface of the land is cut into dikes which 
interfere with adequate cultivation, and the consump- 
tion of water is much greater in a given time than 
when the water is flowed upon the land. Exceptions 
might be made to include alfalfa, sugar beets, and 
heavy root crops — gross feeders — the proper flooding 
of which could not be detrimental, but on the con- 
trary beneficial. It is, moreover, essential in rice cul- 
ture, and highly beneficial in vegetable gardens, fruit 
culture and in vineyards. 



IW The Primer of Irrigation. 

NATURAL SUBMERSION. 

Irrigation by flooding, though produced by arti- 
ficial means, is effected by the operations of nature in 
^any regions of great fertility and abundant harvests. 
Countries of immense extent are fertilized by periodi- 
cal, or rather annual submersions without which the 
soil would be absolutely barren. 

Such countries are Egypt, which is fertilized by 
the regular flooding of the river Nile; the llamas, 
pampas, and steppes of South America, which are 
boundless natural pastures, maintained by the periodi- 
cal overflow of numberless streams and rivers, and 
whose fertility and plant growth could not be per- 
petuated by artificial irrigation through ditches, be- 
cause of the absence of grade to allow flowing. In the 
zone bounded by the dikes and river bed of the Ehone, 
between Avignon and the sea, in France, the lands are 
submerged through their whole extent during the win- 
ter months. Cereals, alfalfa, vines, fruit trees and 
vegetables grow to perfection without other fertiliza- 
tion and with very little cultivation. The damages 
from these annual inundations, though not slight, are 
regarded as of little consequence when compared with 
the benefits derived from them. 

Other regions might be specified if it were neces- 
sary to advocate the benefits of land flooding. We 
might go back into the misty ages of antiquity and 
point to the wonderfully fertile regions around the 
Euphrates and Tigris, and depict the glories of ancient 
dynasties that reached the pinnacle of earthly great- 
ness through the fertilizing of land by flooding, and 
show how those powerful dynasties crumbled into dust 
when the lands were no longer thus fertilized, but this 
is intended to be a practical work with barely enough 
sentiment to make it readable. 



The Science and Art of Irrigation. 161 

ARTIFICIAL FLOODING. 

It is possible for man to imitate or copy nature, 
even to surpass nature, for he can control his water 
supply, whereas that of nature is uncontrollable to a 
great extent and destructive — a combination of utility 
and damage. 

There are two methods of artificial flooding or 
submersion of land: 

If the irrigation water provided for ditch or flow- 
ing is not all exhausted by that process, it is run upon 
land especially prepared for submersion, and allowed 
to remain upon it stagnant for a certain length of time, 
longer in winter than in summer, until it is all ab- 
sorbed. Or, when there is at hand a greater quantity 
of water than is needed for ditch purposes, it is allowed 
to flow over the tops of the dikes, in proportion as fresh 
water is added, and then the water becomes flowing 
water to be utilized upon a series of submergible fields. 

In the first case, that of stagnant or still water 
charged with mud or other fertilizing material and food 
supplies, the matter is deposited upon the soil, which, 
in the case of sandy soil, or light loams, fertilizes and 
consolidates them into consistency. 

In the second case, where the climate is frosty in 
winter, plant life in the soil is protected; mud and 
soluble materials are deposited in less quantities, and 
the atmosphere, or oxygen in the soil is not completely 
intercepted for the benefit of weeds and deleterious 
plants. 

LAYING OUT THE LAND. 

The best arrangement of a tract of land designed 
for submersion, is to divide it into sections, or basins, by 
means of dikes or ridges, which may be thrown up by 
the plow. Each section, fed by the ditch, retains its 
water, the same being allowed to run into it laterally 
until it stops, and becomes stationary or stagnant. In 



162 The Primer of Irrigation. 

this way the humidity in the soil is equalized or ren- 
dered uniform. 

On large level tracts, or where the subsoil is im- 
pervious, the sections or basins may be enlarged. In 
that case the flow into the basins should be hastened so 
that every portion of the basin be covered simulta- 
neously, otherwise the humidity would not be uniform. 
The only limit to the size or extent of these basins is 
the supply of water and the facilities for flowing it 
upon the soil. Several openings may be made from 
the distributing ditch to hasten the process, and the 
length of time the water is to remain upon the soil is 
gauged by its permeability. The soil should not be 
saturated unless a system of drainage is provided. This 
can only be determined by testing the soil after the 
water has been run off or is all taken up. If sodden, 
there is too much, if after a few hours it will not pack 
in the hand, it is ample. If the quantity of the flow 
of water justify it, a number of basins may be sub- 
merged simultaneously by openings made through the 
ridges or dikes. 

Submersion without dividing the land into basins 
causes a great loss of water. During the daytime 
it is possible to regulate the flow of water, and with a 
plow, furrows may be run in various directions, or a 
hoe is often sufficient to direct the water uniformly 
over the surface. But at night, it is not so easy to con- 
trol the course of the flow, particularly on large tracts 
of land. Night irrigation of this kind is practised, 
but the crop appears luxuriant in spots, which shows 
lack of uniformity in the application of the water. 

As to the size of these basins to be submerged, the 
lay of the land and the v/ater supply must be the guides. 
There are irrigated lands with suJDmerged basins from 
the extent of a small garden patch up to a hundred-acre 
tract in alfalfa. 



The Science and Art of Irrigation. 168 

In extensive tracts, particularly cereals, beets, etc., 
flowing and ditch irrigation would be speedier and more 
economical than submersion, and in many cases more 
advantageous, particularly in the case of shallow rooted 
plants. Thus flowing is preferable in the case of barley, 
but submersion would be beneficial in the case of peas, 
the former spreading out its roots near the surface, 
and the latter thrusting them down deep into the soil. 
So, potatoes will not stand submersion, but beets can 
scarcely be drowned out. In rice culture, as has been 
said, submersion is essential. 

Should the land have a slope or grade impossible to 
level, care must be taken to provide a lower dike suf- 
ficiently high to overcome the height at the top where 
the water supply enters, for in such case, the water at 
the top of the grade would barely cover the soil, but flow 
over the top of the lower dike and thus become flowing 
water and not stagnant or stationary. 

Professor Schwerz, in his treatise on practical 
agriculture, thus refers to the advantages and the 
disadvantages of submersion : 

"By inundating the soil it is easy to shield a 
field from any unfavorable temperature (heat or cold). 

"The preparations for inundation are generally 
inexpensive. The food elements held in solution by 
the water have ample time to be deposited upon the 
soil. Insects injurious to vegetation, and which are not 
destroyed by ordinary irrigation, are totally destroyed, 
and the same may be said of noxious weeds in arid 
soils. 

"On the other hand, many serviceable plants are 
drowned by prolonged inundations; herbs are rendered 
less hardy to changes of temperature, and hay and for- 
age plants generally are of inferior quality. Inundation 
is deleterious at the flowering period of plants, though 
they can be irrigated beneficially in other modes. Fin- 
ally, to inundate a large field rapidly throughout its 



164 The Primer of Irrigation. 

entire extent is to consume an enormous amount of irri- 
gation water/' 

From these considerations, the scientist draws the 
conclusion that, "The choice between inundation and 
ordinary irrigation must lie in favor of that ordinary 
irrigation, although in turfy, tough soils, or one very 
porous, inundation is more advantageous/' 



•I- 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE SCIENCE AND ART OF IRRIGATION — INFILTRATION 

OR SEEPAGE. 

Irrigation by infiltration or seepage is effected, fol- 
lowing the configuration of the soil, by means of flowing, 
or sleeping water seeping or soaking into the soil from 
ditches, canals, or other waterways at or beneath the 
surface of the land. The water spreads, soaks, seeps 
out fanlike into the soil from the sides and bottom of 
the ditch or canal, and descends in pursuance of the law 
of gravity, or ascends in accordance with the law of 
capillary motion toward the surface, where it evaporates 
unless its course is stopped by breaking up the soil. 

Water descending by the force of gravity continues 
on until it meets with what is commonly called "ground 
water," with which it mingles. If it does not encounter 
ground water, or a water table, it expends its energy by 
descending as far as it can as water, then it is converted 
into moisture and begins making its way to the surface 
through capillary motion. Infiltration rests upon the 
principle of the permeability of the soil, and hence, this 
method of irrigation is not always so beneficial as those 
which have been already mentioned, for it consumes a 
large quantity of water without supplying the soil with 
a uniform humidity. There is this exception, however ; 
when the flowing water in the trench, ditch, or under- 
ground conveyance reaches the intended root zone and 
there spreads out or seeps into soil where it can be di- 
rectly utilized. This is one of the advantages of sub- 
irrigation, a system which can not be ignored for many 
reasons. 

SUB-IRRIGATION. 

Sub-irrigation is a variety of infiltration which pos- 
sesses many advantages over surface irrigation where 

16» 



166 The Primer of Irrigation. 

wastage of water is an object to be avoided. By this 
system, land too elevated to be reached through other 
means is transformed into fertility. In the case of hill 
land it is admirable for cereals, and also on lands where 
weeds abound. It lends an invaluable aid to special 
plant cultures, such as grapes, olives, oranges and citrus 
fruits generally, and in gardening. It enables steep 
lands to be cut into terraces which irrigation water could 
not reach or in which it could not penetrate to a suf- 
ficient depth. In addition to these advantages, the ap- 
plication of underground water to arid or waste land 
covered with gravel or sand, permits the propagation and 
cultivation of productive plants which would otherwise 
perish through dryness of subsoil. Finally, a well ar- 
ranged system of sub-irrigation operates as a drainage 
system, and thus a double purpose is served. 

The nature of the soil is of more importance than 
the configuration of the land in sub-irrigation. In this 
respect, hard, impenetrable soils, and those too open 
and porous should be avoided for general infiltration 
purposes. Experience alone is able to guide the irrigator 
in establishing any system of deep ditches, the main 
point to be attained is always to provide for moistening 
the soil uniformly. 

FURROW IRRIGATION. 

Applied to cultivated land, furrow irrigation is 
allied to infiltration. Eunning water into furrows be- 
tween the rows of plants and then cultivating over is a 
very common method of irrigation by infiltration, and 
is suitable for all shallow rooted plants, corn, potatoes, 
and tubers generally. The after cultivation by which 
the surface soil is pulverized, forms a mulch which re- 
tains the moisture below for a long period. It is also 
adopted on a large scale in orchards, vineyards, and 
nurseries ; for small fruits, vegetable and flower gardens, 
wherever, in fact, deep irrigation or sub-irrigation. 



The Science and Art of Irrigation, Etc. W 

flooding, or flowing would be useless, or inefficient. It 
is well to provide that the water or surface wet be pre- 
vented from spreading as far as the stalks or bodies 
of the plants, for that means rotting, restricting it to the 
service of the roots. This renders this method of irriga- 
tion more efficacious than direct irrigation for the reason 
that the humidity is imprisoned around the roots where 
it is needed and evaporation retarded. 

It is in the kitchen garden that infiltration attains 
marvelous results, particularly in the culture of root 
plants. In fact, it is the only system of irrigation which 
enables plants to obtain the greatest quantity of nutritive 
elements from a given surface. The soil is never at 
rest, and where the climate is favorable, one crop after 
another may be grown all the year around, and even in 
climates where the farmer is satisfied with one crop each 
season he may easily raise two. It is the equivalent to 
hothouse culture so far as growth is concerned, but the 
plants possess a quality unknown to forced cultivation. 

V\^INTER IRRIGATION. 

Infiltration or sub-irrigation is an admirable system 
for what is known as 'Vinter irrigation," when the water 
supply is more abundant than is the case in the dry 
or growing season in humid climates. Water is run 
into the underground conduits to fill the soil with mois- 
ture, and then by the further storing up of the water in 
excess, surface irrigation becomes practicable when it 
comes to planting, and plants are supplied with moisture 
until their first true leaves are formed, by which time 
their roots are in moisture laden soil and they grow to 
maturity with very little after irrigation, unless shallow 
rooted, in which case surface irrigation is always necessary. 

There are three atmospheric and meteorological 
conditions which should be considered under the name 
of winter: In the arid and semi-arid regions of the 
South and Southwest and on the Pacific slope, where 



108 The Primer of Irrigation. 

the Kuro Siwa or Japanese ocean current creates a per- 
petual spring climate, what is known as the winter sea- 
son is the growing period generally for cereals and gar- 
den products — it is the *Vet season." If there be any 
rainfall at all it begins about November and ends in 
April. Sometimes the rainfall is not more than five 
or ten inches, perhaps fifteen inches, an amount so 
small to a farmer in the humid regions that he would 
not venture to move a plow, but eight inches is con- 
sidered sufficient to raise a reasonable crop without 
irrigation, provided there is constant cultivation. In 
such regions every drop of water is utilized and care 
taken to prevent evaporation. 

In such a climate the farmer dry plants, that is, 
he puts his seed into the ground when the latter is as 
dry as powder, plowing it up previously or plowing his 
seed under. There being no moisture of course it does 
not sprout, but lies in the soil as safely as in his bam 
bin. But when the first rain comes, perhaps only half 
an inch, his seed is up in a few days, and then begins 
cultivation to prevent evaporation. This is continued 
during the entire season, after every shower, large or 
small, so that his crop matures very well on eight inches 
of water from the clouds, aided, however, by dews and 
mists, which, as has been said in a former chapter, is 
quite considerable. 

Here winter irrigation is of the most incalculable 
benefit for the deciduous plants which spring into life 
in March and April, small fruits, orchards and the 
like, for it fills the soil with moisture, and when a trifle 
of surface irrigation is added the plants continue grow- 
ing with profusion and produce profitable crops. 

In the totally arid regions where there is no rain- 
fall at all, nothing but aggravation mists, or heavy, foggy 
dews, nothing can be grown without irrigation of some 
kind, and experience has demonstrated that surface ir- 



The Science and Art of Irrigation, Etc, 169 

rigation can not very well be performed unless there is 
an ocean of water at hand to be wasted in evaporation, 
for the climate is usually hot. Now, if the soil can be 
moistened by infiltration through subterranean conduits, 
that moisture will remain in the soil for an indefinite 
period and may be added to by subsequent irrigations. 
The fact is, that this system of sub-irrigation furnishes 
an artificial water table which provides capillary attrac- 
tion something upon which to operate. 

The same results may be attained by running water 
into deep open furrows, care being taken to cultivate 
over immediately, and then infiltration or seepage will 
begin operating, and whatever excess there may be will 
find its way into the soil in all directions, from a higher 
field to a lower one, and from one slope to another, for 
instance. 

The second climatic condition is where the region is 
cold and frosty, precluding winter growth, and without 
very much snow or other precipitated moisture. Here 
sub-irrigation prepares the soil for spring cultivation, 
and sufficient water is retained for surface irrigation 
when needed. It should be observed that constant and 
deep soil cultivation is as much necessary in such a 
region as in an arid or semi-arid one, the rule being 
that the roots of plants must be provided with adequate 
moisture regardless of surface conditions. 

The third condition of climate is where the rains 
and snows of winter are comparatively heavy, equal to 
the rainfall in the sub-humid sections, but the cold is 
too great to permit any sort of plant life. In such 
case winter irrigation is as much of a necessity as in 
the arid and semi-arid regions because the necessities 
are the same. There is a cessation of water precipita- 
tion in the spring of the year, or else the precipitation 
during the growing season is not sufficient to mature 



no The Primer of Irrigation, 

a crop, hence there must be water enough stored up in 
the soil to meet the coming drought. 

lERIGATION BY SPRINKLING. 

Water sprinkling is practically artificial rain in a 
small way. In an arid climate it is of trifling advantage 
unless other means of irrigating are employed, or unless 
there is a thick growth of vegetation which shades the 
ground, or "mats," as in the case of strawberries, etc. 
It is adapted to garden culture, however, and in horti- 
cultural cultivation generally it is of the highest excel- 
lence. Where water can be conveyed in pipes, with 
hydrants placed at intervals to admit of hose attach- 
ments, there is no better system of irrigation, though 
in this, as in all others, the soil must be kept open to 
retard evaporation, otherwise constant applications of 
water are necessary to keep plants growing. 

Where water is not obtainable from pipes and 
hydrants, a tank on a two wheeled cart, with a pro- 
jecting sprinkler is commonly used. In ordinary vege- 
table gardens hand sprinklers are used, the water being 
run into a convenient reservoir, which may be a barrel 
sunk into the ground, and the water dipped out. With 
one or with one sprinkler in each hand, the irrigator 
walks along the rows, slowly sprinkling the plants with 
water until it runs off the ground as in a rainfall. Many 
plants are benefited by this system of irrigation. Flow- 
ers, small bush fruits, strawberries, and even trees, the 
spraying of water upon which washes the leaves and 
freshens them, or as it is sometimes expressed, "gives 
them a drink." 

In market gardens in proximity to cities, hydrant 
water is plentiful and this is used for sprinkling or 
any desired system of irrigation. Lawns are watered 
by means of a rubber hose with all sorts of attachments 
intended to scatter the water over the .largest space. 
Where windmills are in use and elevated tanks common, 



The Science and Art of Irrigation, Ett. 171 

all the advantages of hydrant water may be secured at 
small expense, and the same is the case where the 
farmer is so fortunate as to have an elevated acre or 
two of ground in which to dig a catch reservoir. There 
are some doubts as to the proper time during the day to 
irrigate crops or plants by sprinkling. Some contend 
that the evening or the early morning is the best time 
while others, again, contend that it does not make any 
difference. It does make a difference, when one stops 
to think. In the early morning the water is chilled after 
the hours of the night, and when water is applied after 
sundown it becomes cold and where the water is coldei 
than the plant it is not beneficial, but stops growth. To 
recur again to the everlasting Chinaman, whose ideas are 
founded on centuries of success in growing anything he 
attempts, he can be seen religiously pouring water on 
his plants, even the most delicate, while the hot sun is 
shining down upon them with a burning heat. One 
looks in vain for the plants to droop and wither under 
such treatment, for they keep on growing vigorously 
and luxuriantly under the influence of the heat and 
the watery vapor engendered by the heat of the sun. 

There can be no doubt that by the constant or regu- 
lar application of water to the soil, in quantities to equal 
evaporation, the ground will be maintained in a moist 
condition favorable to plant growth. Moreover, there 
is always less water required for a second application 
than for a first one, and the quantity diminishes with 
each application, until a modicum of water will be 
reached and a profitable crop raised economically. Where 
there is no water in the subsoil, or at least none attain- 
able by capillary motion, irrigation creates an artificial 
one which may be drawn upon by aeration of the soil 
by deep cultivation. Where there is a water table al- 
ready within serviceable distance of the surface, irriga- 
tion may be so regulated as to keep the soil open and 



172 The Primer of Irrigation. 

aerated by the flowing of water through it, and when 
that object has been attained, the labor of irrigation will 
have been reduced to an economical minimum and pro- 
duction astonishingly increased. 

We shall have more to say on the subject of sub- 
irrigation in a special chapter devoted to the system. 



♦ 



CHAPTER XV. 

SUB-IRRIGATION — DRAINAGE. 

Infiltration, or seepage, as a method of irrigation is 
included in this chapter because it is practically sub- 
irrigation. 

The drainage here referred to is that system of 
carrying off the surplus or excess of water through un- 
derground conveyances, when the same is connected 
with a system of sub-irrigation. Drainage proper will 
furnish matter for a special chapter on the subject. 

Irrigation by infiltration, or seepage, is effected 
through following the configuration of the land, by 
means of flowing or sleeping water seeping through or 
into the soil from ditches, canals, or pipes, uncovered or 
covered, but located below the surface of the ground. 
The water spreads out, seeps or soaks out from the con- 
veyance fan-like into the soil from the sides and bot- 
tom of the ditch, canal or pipe, and, following the law 
of gravity, descends or ascends in accordance with the 
law of capillary attraction. 

Infiltration rests upon the principle of the per- 
meability of the soil, and hence, this method of irriga- 
tion is not always as beneficial as those already 
mentioned, for the reason that it consumes a large 
quantity of water without supplying the soil with a 
uniform humidity. 

Unless, however, and here are two occasions when 
infiltration is more economical and beneficial : When 
the water in the trench, or ditch, or underground con- 
veyance is running water, and when it reaches the roots 
of the plants intended without spreading out where it 
can not be utilized. 

The advantages of underground or sub-irrigation 
are too numerous to be ignored. By this system, land 
too elevated to be reached by water through other means 

in 



174 The Primer of Irrigation. 

may be transformed into fertile tracts. In the case 
of hill land it is admirable for cereals, and also on lands 
where weeds abound. It lends an invaluable aid to a 
series of special cultures, such as grapes, olives, oranges 
and citrus fruits generally, likewise in gardening. It 
enables steep land to be cut into terraces which irriga- 
tion water generally could not penetrate to a sufficient 
depth. In addition to these advantages, the application 
of underground water on arid or waste land covered 
with sand or gravel, permits the propagation and cul- 
tivation of profitable productive plants which would 
otherwise perish through dryness of sub-soil. Finally, 
a well arranged system of sub-irrigation operates as a 
drainage system as well as for irrigation. 

The nature of the soil is more important than the 
configuration of the ground in sub-irrigation. In this 
respect, hard impenetrable soils should be avoided for 
irrigation by infiltration. Experience alone can guide 
the irrigator in establishing his system of deep ditches, 
the main point being always to provide for moistening 
the soil uniformly. 

Furrow irrigation applied to cultivated land is 
similar to infiltration. Eunning water into furrows 
and then cultivating the soil over them is a very com- 
mon method of irrigating by infiltration, and it is suita- 
ble for shallow rooted plants, corn, and tubers gen- 
erally. The pulverized earth forms a mulch which ob- 
viates rapid evaporation and enables the water to seep 
into the soil in every direction before drying out. It 
is also adopted on a large scale in orchards, vineyards, 
nurseries, for small fruits and in flower and vegetable 
gardens where deep irrigation or sub -irrigation proper 
would not be effective. In all such methods of irriga- 
tion it is well to provide that the water or surface wet- 
ness be prevented from extending as far as the plant 
proper, and restrict it to the service of the roots. It is 
considered more efficacious than direct irrigation, for the 



Sub- Irrigation — Drainage, 175 

reason that the humidity is imprisoned around the roots 
and evaporation is perceptibly retarded. 

It is in the kitchen garden, applied to the culture 
of root plants, that irrigation by infiltration attains 
marvelous results. It is the only system of irrigation 
that enables plants to obtain the greatest quantity of 
nutritive matter from a given surface. The soil is never 
at rest; one crop may immediately succeed another, 
growth continuing all the year around without interrup- 
tion. It is, in the hot arid regions, equivalent to hot- 
house culture, so far as luxuriance of growth is con- 
cerned, but the crops possess a quality of excellence 
unknown to forced culture. 

SUBTERRANEAN" CONDUITS. 

Although infiltration is sub-irrigation, many per- 
sons limit the system of sub-irrigation to the conveyance 
of water through underground pipes, tiles or conduits. 
This method of irrigation is very ancient in its applica- 
tion to special cultures, or to utilize liquid fertilizers. 
When the volume of water is limited, the soil too porous 
for surface applications, the method of applying water 
to the roots of plants through subterranean conduits is 
very successful in its results, but only, let it be said, 
for very profitable plants. In general, the great ex- 
pense attendant upon the installation of a system of 
underground conduits has prevented the common use 
of this system of irrigation, ordinary infiltration as 
above described having been found satisfactory. 

But the constant pouring of water upon the soil in 
many of the older irrigated districts in the arid region, 
has resulted in creating a water table near the surface, 
so near in fact that formerly fertile tracts of land have 
been converted into swamps. Hence, drainage has be- 
come a problem necessary to be solved if fertile lands 
and profitable orchards are to be saved from destruction, 
and it is gradually dawning upon the minds of irriga- 



1T6 The Primer of Irrigation. 

tors that where there is a system of sub-irrigation there 
is also a system of drainage ready at hand. 

The writer advances the proposition founded on 
long experience in other countries of similar soil, climate 
and meteorology as the arid and semi-arid lands of the 
west, that sub -irrigation and drainage may well go to- 
gether, and that if tiling or other media be so arranged 
in underground conduits, they will serve a double pur- 
pose, one highly economical and productive of good 
results. The conditions, indeed, are identical. The 
water passing through the drain pipes is surplus water, 
which may quite naturally be used over again as is the 
surplus water from a surface ditch, or that from over- 
flowed land. 

Nearly a hundred years ago the scientist Fellen- 
berg put in at the agricultural establishment of Hofwyl, 
near the city of Berne, a system of sub-irrigation 
through subterranean conduits, for the purpose of 
moistening the fields in dry periods, when the spongy 
soil of the gardens commenced to dry and crack, and 
when the turf was not sufficiently packed to permit sur- 
face irrigation. 

These underground conduits were so arranged as to 
serve two purposes: to carry off drainage water, or to 
retain it for moistening the soil. To accomplish this 
end the pipes were cut at fixed points by a mass of clay 
which was traversed by a drain which served as a com- 
munication between the ends of the conduit, and which 
could be closed by means of a movable plug or valve. 
To cause the water to ascend or flow into the soil, it 
sufficed to stop or plug up the tubing below the point 
to be irrigated, and the water flowing through the drain 
rose to its level and flowed into ground by infiltration. 

The idea was approved in England, and in 1839 
Fellenberg's system was adopted, and irrigation by in- 
filtration came into common use, largely, however, for 
the purpose of flowing liquid manures through pipes to 



Sub-Irrigation — Drainage. 17T 

fertilize the sub-soil of arable land. The system was 
afterward enlarged and developed into a system of sub- 
irrigation where surface irrigation could not be prac- 
ticed. It was carried to the United States and is now 
quite common where water is scarce, and in orchards, 
vineyards and for deep rooted plants generally. 

SUB-IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE COMBINED. 

In every properly arranged system of irrigation the 
ditches or other conveyers of water are equivalent to 
open drains devised for the purpose of flowing water 
from the surface along lines and in directions carefully 
surveyed. 

According to the common understanding, drainage 
means carrying off an excess of water from swamps 
and cold, over-moist soils for the purpose of reclaiming 
them, or converting them into fertile fields. But since 
irrigation plays so important a part in farm economy 
and profitable plant culture, indeed, since it has become 
an absolutely essential element of success in the ari^ 
and sub-humid regions of the United States, and is 
gaining ground in the humid regions, it has been dis- 
covered through costly experience that drainage and 
irrigation are inseparable systems. 

Originally, the pioneer farmer on arid and semi- 
arid lands, finding none at all or very little water or 
even moisture in the sub-soil, disregarded drainage if 
he ever even thought of such a thing, and went on pour- 
ing water upon the soil and into it faster than it could 
evaporate. 

The surplus accumulated little by little, until after 
a few years he discovered that his vines, trees and even 
small fruits were beginning to die at the tops. Investi- 
gation disclosed the curious fact in an arid region, that 
there was too much water in the soil ; that a water table 
had formed, in some cases within two and four feet of 
the surface, and that no means of drainage having been 



ITS The Primer of Irrigation. 

provided, this water table was constantly rising, and in 
th,e course of a very few years his land would become a 
valueless swamp. A ridiculous thing in a rainless 
region, but one that was quite common. 

Again, the advent of an enormous ditch or canal 
was hailed with joy. It meant water, and water in the 
arid regions, it must be confessed, means everything. 
As years went on, the water in the canal was insidiously 
working its way through the sub-soil by infiltration or 
seepage and dissolving the deleterious alkalis in the soil 
through which it passed, carried the solution down to 
the low lying lands, saturated them and evaporating, 
left a whitened soil dead, so far as useful vegetation 
was concerned. Quite naturally there was much con- 
sternation, and various remedies were thought of. Beets 
and sorghum, and other gross ifeeding plans, were 
recommended as alkali destroyers. Then ditches were 
dug to carry off the seepage water from the bottom 
lands or to prevent further infiltration from the canals. 
An unconscious recognition of the necessity for drains. 

Still the insidious infiltration went on, and by and 
by barren black or white patches began to appear higher 
up the sloping land, until seepage water became the bane 
of the irrigation farmer. Then came the idea of cement- 
ing the great ditches to prevent seepage, a good policy 
where water is to be transported long distances but if all 
ditches were cemented there would be no infiltration and 
many lands would revert to an arid condition and 
pioneering would have to begin over again. The great 
aim of converting arid lands into fertile, moistened 
soil would be defeated if seepage or infiltration were to 
be stopped entirely. 

Out of this condition grew the idea of drainage 
systems which it was supposed would more or less ob- 
viate the alkali trouble, but this also deprived the land 
of seepage water from canals and ditches in which the 
water was good irrigating water, and so wasted it. 



Sub-Irrigation — Drainage. 179 

Scientists came to the rescue and gave the patent 
opinion that the good water became bad by associating 
with the deleterious elements in the soil^ picking them 
up in solution and carrying them along down to the 
lower levels, and then backing up, on the principle that 
it is the nature of water to seek its own level, carried up 
the deadly ingredients to the surface, and there 
abandoned them in a cowardly fashion and evaporated, 
leaving alkali and other impurities behind to destroy 
vegetation, ruin fertility. 

But this did not dishearten the farmer, for if one 
tract of land ceased to be productive by reason of ah 
excess of alkali deposits, he selected a virgin tract out of 
his numerous broad acres and went on as before. But 
now he is confronted with the alkali fiend on all sides 
in certain regions and seeks a remedy against it. The 
demand now is for small farms, every foot of which 
may be made productive, and be more profitable than 
a large ranch cultivated in patches. 

Years, nay, ages ago, in other arid regions than 
those of the IJnited States, the same difficulties en- 
countered by the western irrigation farmer were ex- 
perienced and sought to be overcome by means of drain- 
age. It was soon discovered that by drainage alone, the 
vegetating stratum above the drain pipes no longer pre- 
sented its natural cohesion, but dried and cracked into 
fissures to such an extent that surface irrigating water 
cut gullies into the soil through which it rapidly dis- 
appeared on its way to the drains to be wasted or to 
obstruct the drain pipes. These inconveniences were 
grave in the case of small irrigating ditches, but were 
aggravated when the main supply ditch or canal crossed 
the line of drains. A remedy was sought by giving the 
drains a steeper incline to create a strong, rapid current 
through the pipes, or by using light conduits with ver- 
tical wells or tubing at certain fixed points, up which the 



180 The Primer of Irrigation. 

excess water might rise and thus regulate the flow, or 
again by isolating the drains and the irrigating ditches. 

In drained fields two experiments were tried: 

First. The drains were buried only about four 
inches below the turf, and the surplus water allowed 
to spread out through open joints of the tiles, or through 
openings expressly made for the purpose, within reach 
of the roots, whereas, in drainage exclusively, the 
drains operated contrariwise by drawing the water away 
from the roots. By this method none of the land was 
overlooked and irrigation could be effected at any time, 
and liquid fertilizers could be introduced whenever de- 
sirable. The pipes were easily laid in an ordinary fur- 
row opened by a plow, and could be multiplied economi- 
cally to any extent. 

Second. The second process was to lay a certain 
number of drains along the line of the steepest grade 
and connect them with a transverse collecting pipe or 
conduit, in the center of which was arranged a vertical 
tube or well of wood or tile, up which the water ascended 
and flowed over into a main ditch from which the sur- 
face could be irrigated in the usual manner. Each 
transverse collecting drain corresponded with a princi- 
pal flowing ditch, and to suspend irrigation all that was 
necessary was to throw open the front or end of each 
discharge drain where it entered the transverse collect- 
ing drain. 

The vertical tubes or wells were vent holes pro- 
vided with sluices which could be worked from the top 
in any desired convenient manner, whenever it was de- 
sired to drain without irrigation or irrigate without 
draining, or whether it was desired to hold the water at 
a given level in the soil to furnish seepage water or 
irrigate by infiltration. 

The principle of these methods is identical with 
that of ordinary irrigation, which, after all is said, is 



Sub-irrigation — Drainage. Igl 

the seepage or filtration of water from above down 
through the soil, and the absorption by the soil of the 
elements held in suspension or solution by the water. 
Carbonic acid is disengaged by flowing over the surface^ 
is partially decomposed by the plants and absorbed by 
them, and the remainder passes into the soil. Oxygen, 
after subjecting what it reaches to the phenomena of 
combustion, which explains the fertilizing effects of 
irrigation, is less abundant in water filtered through the 
soil than in that which flows over the surface, while, on 
the contrary, carbonic and sulphuric acids increase in 
quantity. By seepage or infiltration from below upward, 
mineral matters, lime, chalk, potash, etc., are not pre- 
cipitated mechanically, but deposited in the sub-soil un- 
less the water be saturated, which is too often the case 
in the alkali lands, but which is more or less obviated 
by combining this system of drainage with irrigation. 
At all events it reduces the quantity of the deposit 
of deleterious mineral salts to a minimum. In 
addition to that desideratum it is possible to 
wash the alkali out of the soil by permitting the 
saturated water to drain off and carry with it 
the alkali in the sub-soil or near the surface, top 
ivashing of course carrying the surface alkali down 
tvithin reach of the drains. It is like cleansing a 
sponge of its impurities. Dip an impure sponge in a 
basin of pure water and squeeze. The water becomes 
impregnated with the impurities of the sponge. Throw 
away that water and fill the basin with clear water and 
dip in it the sponge and squeeze as before. By and by 
the water running from the sponge is clear, showing 
that the latter contains no more impurities. 

If it be true, as the majority of the scientists main- 
tain, that the use of irrigating water is all the more 
beneficial when vegetation is most flourishing and 
luxuriant, and that the nutritive elements in the soil 



182 The Primer of Irrigation. 

are directly absorbed by the roots, it is apparent that 
the oxydizing and purifying action of drainage com- 
bined with irrigation must be the means of supplying 
vegetation with the necessary plant food, either through 
the infiltration of the water into the region of the roots 
or by intermittent flowing over the surface from the 
vent wells. 

The system is quite simple, expense alone being 
probably the only disadvantage, but even then, if the 
land must be drained, the laying of tiles, if with a view 
of also irrigating, will divide the expense. 

By an arrangement of valves or plugs managed 
from the vertical vent wells, the pipes are closed at the 
point where irrigation is desired. Then, the water 
flowing through the drains is stopped at the closed valve, 
escapes through the loose joints of the tiles, and if per- 
mitted, will make its way to the surface. When one sec- 
tion has been sufficiently irrigated in this manner, the 
valve is opened, and another one further down is closed, 
and the soil in that section irrigated in the same man- 
ner. To drain without irrigating, all the underground 
valves are opened and the water flows through the 
secondary drains into the main, or transverse collecting 
drain, to be carried off entirely or into a reservoir for 
further use unless too alkaline. 

To wash the soil, repeat the process of irrigation 
and drainage several times successively until tests show 
a weak solution. 

This system of irrigation and drainage may be 
adapted to any condition of soil, or to any topography. 
Indeed, the principle of .the siphon may be connected 
with it. Eegard, of course, must be had to the nature 
of the plants to be irrigated when it comes to regulating 
the depth at which the tiles are to be placed, or the 
height to which the water is to be permitted to ascend 
in the soil. Where the land is flat the tiles may be laid 
on a light grade, the source of the water supply above 



Sub-Irrigation— 'Drainage. 183 

the tiles regulating the velocity of the current of water 
and the height to which it can be raised in the soil. In 
such cases, a fifty or a hundred-acre tract may be sub- 
irrigated by infiltration until it is in a fit condition to 
cultivate for any crop without any flowing over the 
surface. In sloping land the pipes should be laid paral- 
lel with the slope to insure uniformity of distribution, 
at, say, four feet below the surface for ordinary culture, 
with transverse collecting pipes at intervals, so as to lay 
out the land in sections, each one of which may be 
irrigated in turn. Practically, the system means the 
creation of an artificial water table managed at will. 

A query arises here : Will not the water rising in 
aiT upper section of land through the drain pipes also 
descend to the section below at the same time in obedi- 
euce to the law of gravity? 

The answer is that water as such certainly will 
descend and much faster than it rises. But moisture 
will not. In irrigating the upper section of a tract of 
land through drain pipes, the water is under pressure 
which overcomes gravity. Again, the soil will absorb the 
water as fast as it rises and not until it is saturated 
will it give any of it up, and then the surplus will be- 
gin to flow downward, but when that moment arrives the 
irrigator opens the valve and removes the pressure, suf- 
fers the saturated land to drain off and moisture alone 
is left, which, as has been said, does not drain down- 
ward, but ascends toward the surface in obedience to 
the law of capillary attraction. 

SURFACE, SUB-IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE COMBINED. 

^ It is possible to combine surface, sub-irrigation and 
drainage by the same system of underground conduits 
or tiles, and for that reason drainage should always be 
arranged with a view of making a treble use of it. 

The line of irrigation is always along the line of 
drainage, which is evident from the fact that drainage 



184 The Primer of Irrigation. 

is nothing more than disposing of the excess water that 
flows through the soil. There is no other way for it to 
reach the drain tiles except through the soil, and this is 
true whether the soil is arid or a swamp. The flow of 
irrigation water is necessarily in the same direction as 
the drainage water, and hence it is economy to com- 
bine them. 

If the water source is high enough above the field 
to be irrigated or drained, a sufficiently large reservoir 
or retaining ditch should be provided. From this, what 
may be called the "velocity water," is to be supplied. 
That is, the water naturally flowing downward toward 
the drain pipes can not rise to the surface except by 
seepage or infiltration, and then only when the lower 
drain courses are closed at their intersection with the 
transverse collecting drain. But water let in from an 
elevated source, unites with the drainage water and 
forces it to the surface or to any desired height, even 
above the surface if necessary or required. 

Now, by closing the exits of the drain tiles at any 
point, the water may be forced up through the vertical 
vent wells or tubes and allowed to flow into distributing 
ditches through which any part of the land may be 
surface irrigated, and a double use of the drainage sys- 
tem be effected. It is a convenient and profitable mode 
of irrigating small, shallow rooted plants, strawberries, 
for instance, and the tubers like potatoes that will not 
stand water soaking. Likewise it is adapted to the 
kitchen garden and floriculture. 

It is an admirable system for what is termed 
'Vinter irrigation," where the water supply is more 
abundant in the winter months than in the dry sea- 
son. Sub-irrigation is practiced to fill the soil with 
moisture, and then by storing the water, surface irriga- 
tion becomes practicable when planting time arrives, 
and when plants show their first true leaves. By that 
time their roots are in moist soil and they grow to ma- 



Sub-Irrigation — Drainage. 185 

turity with very little after irrigation unless shallow 
rooted. 

There are three classes or conditions of atmos- 
phere or meteorological conditions existing in the great 
west, however, which should be understood whenever 
mention is made of ^Vinter/' 

In the arid and semi-arid regions of the south and 
southwest, and on the Pacific slope where the Kuro 
Siwa or Japanese ocean current creates a perpetual 
spring climate, what is known as winter is the growing 
period for cereals and garden products. In these lo- 
calities the seasons are commonly divided into "wet 
season" and "dry season," winter as it is known else- 
where being unknown. If there be any rainfall at all, 
it usually begins in October or November and ends in 
April. Sometimes the rainfall for the season ranges 
from four inches to ten, sometimes reaching fourteen 
inches, the latter quantity being sufficient to raise a fair 
crop of grain without irrigation, but in the case of 
corn and vegetables constant cultivation is required. 

In these regions winter irrigation is beneficial for 
deciduous plants, which overcome their winter sleep 
and spring into life in March or April, small fruits, 
orchards and the like, for it fills the soil with moisture 
at a greater depth than the rainfall can reach, and when 
a trifie of surface irrigation is added, they grow and 
produce profitably. 

In the absolutely arid regions where there is an 
absence of rain, or less than five inches, frequently as- 
suming the form of what is known as a "Scotch mist," 
nothing can be grown in the way of profitable plants 
without irrigation of some kind. Now, if the sub-soil 
can be charged with moisture it will be retained for a 
long period if the surface soil be kept open and highly 
pulverized to serve as a mulch, and with a little irriga- 
tion it will perform wonders of plant growth. More- 
over, by constant infiltration, an artificial water table 



186 The Primer of Irrigation. 

will finally be created which will become perpetual with 
periodical additions. In irrigation there is always more 
water put into the soil than is necessary for plant 
growth, and the excess water, allowing for evapora- 
tion, must flow down into the subterranean receptacles. 
If there be a sloping field above, then it will perform the 
duty of a storage reservoir for the lower one, and the 
escaping water may be caught and utilized as has been 
already described. 

The second climatic condition to be observed is 
where the region is cold and frosty in winter, but with- 
out much snow or other precipitated moisture. Here, 
winter sub-irrigation prepares the soil for spring culti- 
vation, and sufficient water is retained for surface irri- 
gation when needed to enable plants to start. Colorado 
and western Kansas, with portions of western Nebraska 
and eastern Wyoming, are illustrations. 

The third condition is where the snows of winter 
are very heavy, equal to the rainfall in humid regions, 
but the summers are dry. Northern Utah, Montana, 
Idaho, Nevada and the Dakotas may be placed in this 
category. In such regions, winter irrigation and drain- 
age go together naturally. The soil is aerated, main- 
tained in a friable, tillable condition, and almost as soon 
as spring opens plowing and planting may begin. The 
soil is charged with water which, if excessive, must be 
drained off, and if insufficient, the drainage pipes are 
closed and a uniform saturation induced. 



Chapter XVI. 

SUPPLEMENTAL IRRIGATION. 

When the subject of irrigation is broached one 
immediately thinks of an arid region or one in which 
the ordinary rainfall is inadequate to raise a crop to 
maturity or to raise one sufficiently profitable. In such 
regions irrigation is practiced all the time, from the 
planting of the seed to the maturity of the plant, and 
even afterward it is necessary to again irrigate for the 
purpose of fitting the soil for cultivation for the plant- 
ing of another crop. The rainfall is totally disregarded. 
Irrigation is a necessity. 

But in the humid regions where there is an ade- 
quate rainfall, or at least from thirty to forty inches 
of rain precipitated upon the soil during the year, irri- 
gation has until quite recently in this country been 
looked upon very much in the light of an unnecessary 
luxury, a refinement of agriculture suitable for gentle- 
man farming and not to be encouraged when it comes 
to general farming. The idea of irrigating in the 
humid regions is growing stronger, however, and it 
will not be long before irrigation will be as common in 
Massachusetts and New York as in Arizona. Indeed, 
it must come to that or the humid States will be com- 
pelled to go entirely out of the business of crop rais- 
ing, for the productions of the soil in the irrigated 
regions are so enormous that the humid or rain farmer 
will not be able to compete. This irrigating in the 
humid regions where there is an abundant annual rain- 
fall is what is termed "supplemental irrigation,'' in- 
asmuch as it supplements the rainfall or makes good its 
deficiencies and uneven distribution during the periods 
of the year of the growing season. 

Supplemental irrigation, though quite recent in 

187 



188 The Primer of Irrigation. 

the United States and even now looked upon with dis- 
favor, has been practiced in Europe for centuries 
where the rainfall is sufficient to raise crops without 
irrigation, as in our humid regions. Germany, France, 
Italy and the British Isles have practiced it with profit 
and success, and to fail to irrigate is to be guilty . of 
bad husbandry and careless of profits. 

To state the proposition of supplemental irrigation 
broadly, it removes the element of chance in all farm- 
ing that depends solely upon the water precipitated 
from the clouds naturally. No farmer guesses at his 
seed, but selects the best variety with the greatest care, 
even experimenting with a small quantity before trust- 
ing his entire harvest to the probability of failure. So 
also does he choose his implements, his stock, and he 
prepares his soil in the most approved and certain 
manner, but when he considers the probabilities of the 
element favoring him with bountiful returns he shuts 
his eyes and draws for trumps when he might have the 
winning cards in his own hands by the exercise of his 
common sense. 

There are times when the skies are as brass and 
the earth like a burning furnace, then his hopes are 
blasted and he grieves. There are also times when the 
rain comes just right and the earth laughs with a har- 
vest. Then the farmer rejoices and says : "We have 
had a good crop." But if he will stop to consider and 
look back a few years, go over his ledger of balances, 
he will discover that in the space of five years, for in- 
stance, he has had three bad crops and only two good 
ones. Why? The only answer is : There was not rain 
enough to mature the crops; there were several dry 
spells right in the growing season when the plants 
were seriously injured and no amount of after rainfall 
— nay, a deluge — could restore them their lost vitality. 

It is not the desire of the author to argue in favor 
of supplementary irrigation in the humid regions, for 



Supplemental Irrigation. 189 

that is bound to come to the wise farmers, but there 
are many who may not yet be assured of the neces- 
sity of it, or to whom the knowledge of it has not yet 
come, and to whom he will only say : How much better 
it would be if a farmer could plant with the certainty 
that every crop would be uniformly abundant, and 
that, too year after year without a single break. 

He jan accomplish this by simply utilizing the 
surplus water which he watches go to waste without 
raising a hand to stop it or to store it up against the 
time of dire need. It rains, says the rain farmer, there- 
fore why pour more water on the soil? True, but there 
is a story to tell which will illustrate that sort of argu- 
ment better than pages of theory. It is an old one to 
the middle-aged, perhaps threadbare, but new in this 
connection, for which reason it will bear repeating. 
This is the story, or, rather, anecdote: 

A stranger once traveling through Arkansas one 
fine day came across a rain farmer sitting in the 
sunshine at the door of his cabin fiddling away for dear 
life on a cracked fiddle. Dismounting, the traveler 
passed the compliments of the season and looked 
around to take in the situation. It happened that a 
large hole in the roof of the cabin caught his eye. 

' vi^hy do you not mend the hole in your roof ?" 
inquired the stranger. 

" ^Tain't wuth while, stranger ; ^tain^t a-rainin'." 

"Well, when it rains you will have to mend it," 
said the stranger, sarcastically. 

"Dunno about thet, mister ; it mought be too wet to 
fix when it are a-rainin'." 

It seems strange to unaccustomed eyes to see an 
irrigation farmer of the far west pouring water on his 
soil with the rain falling in torrents. 

A Bostonian who was passing through the Sacra- 
mento valley in California in a comfortable Pullman 
car during a heavy rain noticed a farmer busily en- 



190 The Primer of Irrigation. 

gaged in irrigating his land without noticing the down- 
pour. 

"Just look at that fool watering his land when it 
is raining so hard/' 

"He's no fool/' said his companion, who happened 
to know something about irrigation, "but a wise man. 
He knows that the effects of the rain will last about 
three days, but that the irrigation water is good for. 
two weeks." 

IRRIGATING IN A HUMID REGION. 

The experience of Dr. Clarke Gapen, at one time 
superintendent of the Illinois Eastern Hospital for the 
Insane, may do much toward clearing away any doubts 
the reader may entertain as to the wisdom of irrigating 
in a humid region. Says the doctor: 

"For two years the garden crops on about ninety 
acres of land were almost a total failure, the loss not 
only depriving the inmates of the institution of fresh 
vegetables, but it was a financial loss. In the spring 
of the third year I suggested to the Board of Trustees 
the extension of our water mains into the garden and 
into certain lands which it was proposed to use for 
garden purposes, consisting of about 150 acres. This 
was agreed to, and we proceeded to lay about 4,000 feet 
of water mains out into the farm. As there was some 
delay in completing the work, our irrigation was not 
begun until some time in June. We had in the mean- 
time, however, planted a portion of the land in fruit 
trees and berries, and the remainder was planted in 
vegetables. As soon as the pipe laying was completed 
the water was turned on and irrigation of the entire 
tract begun. 

"The following results show the profit of the un- 
dertaking : 

Beets, 4 acres, 1,960 bu. at 30c $ 588.00 

Cabbage, 15 acres, 1,498 bbls. at $1 1,498.00 



Supplemental Irrigation. 191 

Cauliflower, 3 acres, 81 bbls. at $1.50 121.00 

Cucumber, 3^ acre, 184 bu. at 60c 110.00 

Lettuce, ?4 acre, 101 bbls. at $1 101.00 

Water and musk melons, 7 acres, 16,000 at 3c 148.00 

Onions, 3 acres, 245 bbls. at 75c 183.75 

Peas, 5 acres, 250 bu. at $1.25 323.75 

Radishes, 3 acres, 304 bbls. at $2 608.00 

Tomatoes, 6 acres, 1,360 bu. at 30c 408.00 

Turnips, 15 acres, 3,000 bu. at 30c 910.50 

Potatoes, 25 acres, 3,000 bu. at 30c 900.00 

Greens, 2 1-3 acres, 500 bu. at 25c 125.00 

Rhubarb, 1/2 acre, 261 bbls. at 50c 130.00 

Total for 901/2 acres $6,478.40 

Total for 1 acre 73.57 

"While it is conceded that this does not show an 
excessively large yield, it must be borne in mind that 
is far greater than the average yield in the regions 
round about during the same season, and that irriga- 
tion was begun very late in the season. Moreover, the 
ground was newly broken and had never before been 
used for vegetables. 

"The cost of laying the pipe was about $1,500, or, 
say, $10 per acre. The land before the pipes were 
laid would have been regarded for agricultural pur- 
poses as at a high price at $100 per acre ; it now has a 
producing value to the institution of $500 per acre. 

TWO METHODS OF APPLYING WATER. 

"In applying the water at the hospital we used 
only two methods — the ditch and the flowing. In both 
cases the water was conveyed in large ditches meander- 
ing in conformity with the contour of the ground, 
running often by very circuitous routes to the desired 
points. There it was diverted into furrows made by 
what is called 'middle breakers,' or double mold board 
plow between the rows of corn, potatoes, cabbage or 



1^2 The Primer of Irrigation. 

whatever the plain; or by the flooding method it was 
spread out over a leveled space ten to fifteen feet in 
width, with ridges six to eight inches high, thrown up 
to separate these spaces from each other, and occasional 
cross-ridges if the slope of the ground was steep. We 
kept the slope of the land constantly in mind and we 
found it always best to always begin at the lowest point 
and work up or backward. In irrigating the orchard 
we ran a furrow on each side of each row of trees and 
allowed the water to run slowly throughout its length. 
For orchard purposes we find two irrigations sufficient, 
one early in the spring and the other just as the fruit 
begins to ripen. As the trees grow the irrigating fur- 
row is run farther and farther away from the trees." 

Dr. Gapen is of the opinion that irrigation has a 
much larger future in those portions of the country 
where the rainfall is reasonably large than even in the 
dry regions, because there is a larger supply of water 
which can be utilized and, of course, can be utilized 
to a greater extent. Long continued experiments in 
the direction of supplemental irrigation have indeed 
demonstrated beyond any doubt that crops may be 
doubled and quadrupled. The irrigation system 
adopted at the institution of which Dr. Gapen is super- 
intendent required from 100,000 to 200,000 gallons of 
water per acre during the growing season. He esti- 
mated that at least two inches of rainfal were neces- 
sary for even a light irrigation, approximately 55,000 
gallons, being at the rate of 27,154 gallons of water for 
one inch of rain, and that to give two good wettings 
to the soil at least 220,000 gallons, or about eight 
inches, should be given eaeh acre. This was modified 
to about 100,000 gallons per acre for each wetting. 
More water, however, could be used to advantage, for 
the reason that in humid regions a 70 per cent satura- 
tion by bulk will give the best results. 

As to the expense of the supplemental irrigation at 



Supplemental Irrigation. 193 

the Illinois institution, above referred to, it cost $3.00 
per 1,000,000 gallons to deliver the water at the point 
required. At this rate the cost of delivering 100,000 
gallons, the amount necessary to irrigate one acre, 
was only 60 cents per acre for two good wettings. This 
expense was much greater than that incurred by ordi- 
nary pumping or lifting, for the reason that there was 
maintained a pressure of fifty pounds, which required 
high pressure pumps. The piping was the best grade 
o± cast iron pipe, laid entirely below the frost line, 
using three, four and six-inch pipe, which cost from 
20 to 30 cents per foot. 

^ With a farm located on the bank of a stream, or 
with an inexhaustible well, it is not difficult to under- 
stand that the expense would be much less. The fact 
remains, however, that with the most expensive appli- 
ances supplemental irrigation is productive of double 
profits, and therefore it is a system not to be rejected 
without at least a trial of its merits. 




Chapter XVII. 

QUANTITY OF WATER TO RAISE CROPS. 
(The Duty of Water.) 

The amount of transpiration through the leaves of 
plants will furnish an approximation of the quantity 
of water needed by them before they can attain perfect 
maturity. That amount of water in the shape of 
moisture they must have, and if they can not obtain it 
by natural means, through rainfall, ground water, 
capillary action, dew, or moisture from the atmosphere, 
it must be supplied by artificial means through irriga- 
tion, else the farmer may as well retire from business, 
unless he admires a useless expenditure of labor year 
after year. 

It is alleged by men of the highest scientific stand- 
ing, men who have made irrigation agriculture a pro- 
found study, and have performed a multitude of practi- 
cal experiments to demonstrate the verity of their propo- 
sition that about forty inches of water whether rainfall, 
or evenly distributed artificially, is the proper and 
essential quantity to successfully grow a crop from the 
planting to the harvest. Some claim that a lesser 
quantity will be sufficient. Thus, Professor King found 
that he could use 34 inches for the growing season in 
Wisconsin. In California from 7^/^ to 20 inches will 
answer the purpose ; in Colorado, 22 inches ; in India 
48 inches are necessary, and 50 inches in France and 
Italy. All these calculations are based upon the 
quantity required per acre during the growing period 
of a crop, which is estimated at about 80 or 90 days. 

It is well for the reader to grasp the immensity of 
such volumes of water, and to enable him to do so, a 
few mathematical facts will not be out of place. 

104 



Quantity of Water to Raise Crops. 195 

One inch of water covering an acre of ground, 
equals 27,154 gallons, or 1,086,160 gallons per acre for 
the season upon the basis of a supposed total of forty 
inches. The weight of this amount of water at 8 1-3 
pounds standard U. S. weight to the gallon, is 
nearly 4,526 tons. Weight will be used instead of 
measure in order to make comparisons. 

Let us take potatoes as an illustration, and on them 
base a simple calculation. According to the laws of 
most of the States, a bushel of potatoes weighs sixty 
pounds avoirdupois. At the rate of three hundred 
bushels per acre, which is a very large yield to the 
acre, the weight will reach 18,000 pounds, or nine tons. 

In the case of sugar beets, the production runs all 
the way from fifteen to thirty-five tons per acre. 

Now, it has been calculated that potatoes and beets 
contain from' 80 to 90 per cent of their weight in 
water, or its equivalent, and at 90 per cent, to give 
them the benefit of the largest possible quantity of 
fluidity, an acre of potatoes would contain about 8% 
tons of water, and an acre of beets about 32 tons. 

It is impossible to believe that this small quantity 
of vegetable extract required the distillation in the 
plant of 4,526 tons of water in ninety days, and the fact 
is that it does not. In a former chapter it is said that 
moisture, or water in the shape of moisture, is taken 
into the plant by way of the roots, and after being 
utilized in the economy of the plant, it is discharged 
through the medium of the leaves ; that is to say, trans- 
pired through the stomata or mouths of the leaves. 
Indeed, there is no other way by which water can enter 
into the plant. It is a solvent for plant food, and the 
plant having absorbed the food, rejects the water by 
transpiration. 

The reader will find in Chapter V an experiment 
made by Professor Williams of Vermont with an acre of 



196 The Primer of Irrigation. 

forest containing 640 trees averaging 8% inches in 
diameter and 30 feet in height, having an average 
of 21,192 leaves on each tree to transpire water during 
ninety-two days. 

It was discovered by careful experiment that such 
an acreage of trees drew from the soil and evaporated, 
or transpired by way of the tree leaves, 2,852,000 pounds 
of water during ninety-two days, or 1,426 tons, the 
evaporation or transpiration being calculated as going 
on twelve hours per day, inasmuch as it is almost im- 
perceptible at night. This leaves a very large balance 
of the 4,526 tons unconsumed by the trees, and even 
assuming that the leaves transpired water during twen- 
ty-four hours there would still be 1,674 tons to the good 
unutilized by vegetation. 

Carrying the calculation still further, let it be 
assumed that the evaporation from the soil was 1,000 
pounds per hour and that such evaporation occurred 
every hour of the twenty-four, and there would be still 
remaining unutilized for any known purpose 570 tons 
of water. There would remain a much larger quantity, 
for the estimate of evaporation could not exist in a for- 
est, and not under any circumstances at night. More- 
over, evaporation from a freshly plowed soil does not 
reach 1,000 pounds per hour, even without vegetation to 
retard it. 

Recurring to the sunflower experiment (Chapter V). 
An acre of sunflowers three and a half feet high, esti- 
mating 10,000 of them to the acre, which would be 
crowding them, with their great broad leaves, would 
transpire during twelve hours every day for ninety days 
810 tons of water drawn from the soil. It will be per- 
ceived that the 4,526 tons of irrigating water or rain- 
fall are still practically intact, and it may occur to the 
mind of the ordinary reader that forty inches is alto- 
gether too much water to put on or into the soil for 
any profitable or needed purpose. If not, what becomes 



Quantity of Water to Raise Crops. 197 

of.it? It is not utilized by vegetation of any sort 
Even sugar cane, which possesses an insatiable thirst, 
would repudiate such gluttony. 

The fact is, about three-fourths of this water is 
wasted— fed to run-off, seepage and drainage. It is 
put into the soil to kill the plants eventually instead of 
nourishing and giving them life. 

^ Government experts say that out of a possible forty 
inches of rainfall 50 per cent of it is lost in running 
off or out of the land, and 25 per cent disappears 
through evaporation. If this is correct, then there are 
left ten inches to be utilized by the crop, whatever it 
may be, and according to our calculation that amount 
IS ample for plant growth from the planting to the 
harvest if irrigation is practiced as it should be. 

There is this to be also considered, that rainfall 
does not mean a precipitation of a certain number of 
inches of water during the growing season when needed 
more than at any other time, whereas irrigation does 
mean that very thing. Taking four months of the 
year as the growing period, that is to say. May, June, 
July and August, where summer is the seedtime and 
harvest, or January, February, March and April on 
the Pacific Coast and semi-tropical regions, the mean 
monthly precipitation of water at forty inches per an- 
num' would be one-twelfth of the annual supply, or 
three and one-third inches, a total for the entire grow- 
ing period of thirteen and one-third inches. 

When it comes to crop requirements averages are 
to be disregarded, but assuming it to be true that the 
forty inches of rainfall are evenly distributed during 
the growing season, as above specified, then a crop can 
be grown to maturity on thirteen and one-third inches ; 
indeed, it can not be imagined that the entire annual 
rainfall is precipitated upon the soil during the four 
months specified unless rice culture be contemplated. 
With thirteen and one-third inches of water distributed 



198 The Primer of Irrigation. 

through the growing season the soil receives 1,508 tons 
of water per acre, which, by referring to the cases of 
the forest and the sunflowers above given, will more 
than satisfy the requirements of those plants; in fact, 
nearly two acres of sunflowers can be amply provid- 
ed for. 

Now, what becomes of the remaining twenty-six 
and two-thirds inches of the assumed forty inches? 
The 3,018 tons of water on our acre? In the opinion 
of the writer that water has gone down to raise the 
ground water uncomfortably close to the root zone, 
where it will do damage, has run off or drained off. 
It is certainly wasted unless the excess is intended to 
irrigate several more acres further down some slope, or 
is to be pumped out from wells and used over again. 
In that case, why put so much water on the soil if 
agriculture be the object and not the water supply 
business ? 

It is not safe, however, to rely upon thirteen and 
one-third inches of rainfall during the growing sea- 
son. Farmers know to their cost that then the rain 
possesses a very retiring disposition, and the skies are 
brazen for long periods, long enough, sometimes, to 
either ruin the crops or to stunt them and produce only 
a small percentage of what was expected from their 
early start and growth. In other words, the growing 
season is also the season of drouths, except in those re- 
gions where winter is the growing season, there being 
no frosts to retard vegetation. Yet, strange to say, even 
with all the uncertainties of summer moisture good 
crops are sometimes grown and that on a small per- 
centage of the annual rainfall. With irrigation sup- 
plying the deficiency of rainfall there is a certainty of 
a good^ profitable crop every year. 

What has been said thus far relates to land which 
contains natural moisture or a water table, a supply 
of water which is brought up to the surface by capillary 



Quantity of Water to Raise Crops. 199 

action or by accretions from heavy rains, and where the 
soil is wet enough to require a system of drainage to 
carry off the surplus. It is easy to perceive that under 
such conditions plants will draw moisture from below 
by means of their tap roots and thus supply themselves 
with plant food to make up for any deficiency of pre- 
cipitation. Where those conditions prevail, irrigation 
becomes supplemental and is not only useful but es- 
sential in the humid regions to overcome the possible 
damage likely to occur during the period of drouths. 
To dose the soil with water having a water table near 
enough the surface for the tap roots of plants to reach 
would be a waste and of no benefit to plant life, as 
will be readily believed when it is understood that too 
much water is as detrimental to plant life as too little. 

Where there is moisture in the subsoil, and even a 
modicum of rainfall during the summer months, the 
author would suggest that if the deficiency amounts to 
six inches, or four inches, or thirteen inches, such de- 
ficiency be made good by an artificial application of 
water at regular intervals, one surely just at the period 
of flowering and the last one just before the ripening 
of the fruit, or at the period when they are said to be 
"in the milk.*' At that time a chemical transforma- 
tion is taking place in the economy of the plant, and 
it must be supplied with the material to continue it, 
else it will shrivel and die of old age before ripen- 
ing. 

The same observations may be adapted to those 
semi-arid regions where the frosts of winter prevent the 
existence of plant life, and the rainless summers de- 
mand irrigation as necessary to raise a crop of any kind. 
There are fall rains and winter snows, and by keeping 
the ground open to their reception the moisture can be 
retained for a long enough period to start the infant 
plant well on its way in the spring, but after the first 
true leaves are formed irrigation must begin and con- 



200 The Primer of Irrigation. 

tinue during the growing period^, for there is no rainfall 
to be depended upon as an aid to agriculture. Under 
such conditions plants do not require any more moisture 
than in any other region, and hence it is stated as a 
broad proposition that the same quantity of moisture 
that will raise a crop in the humid regions will also 
raise one in the semi-arid districts, where winter is a 
bar to winter growth. 

In what are designated as '^arid and semi-arid^' re- 
gions, with a semi-tropical climate, although there is 
very little rainfall, it is surprising how far the small 
precipitation will go toward maturing a crop without 
the assistance of artificial applications of water. Five 
inches will raise a crop planted in dry ground before the 
rains come, and by careful and continual cultivation of 
the ground that crop will be profitable enough to make 
it worth while to plant. In favorable soil one inch of 
water will wet the ground down about eighteen inches or 
two feet, and the first rain penetrating to the seed that 
has been plowed under "dry^^ will cause it to sprout 
within three or four days. From that time on until the 
crop matures, in March or April, if the rain begins in 
December or Januar}?-, the farmer cultivates plants that 
can be cultivated and harrows his wheat and barley to 
keep the soil open as much as possible. There may not 
be any moisture in the subsoil — on the contrary it may 
be as "dry as a bone" for a hundred feet down — but 
the crop grows, and with few inches of rain it reaches 
maturity. Of course, it is not luxuriant vegetation, 
nor is the wheat and barley as high as a man's head. 
But it produces enough for his stock and his vegeta- 
bles, unless sugar beets and deep-rooting plants fur- 
nish him with a good supply. Some of these "dry 
farmers'' say they are satisfied with eight inches of 
rainfall and consider fourteen inches a "wash out." In 
such regions the summer months, from May to No- 
vember, and sometimes into December, the skies are 



Quantity of Water to Raise Crops. 201 

cloudless and not a particle of rain falls. Then irriga- 
tion is an absolute necessity, and it is practiced so as 
to continue the growing season all the year round and 
to produce a succession of crops without any cessation. 
There is undoubtedly more evaporation from the soil 
than in the humid regions, but that is diminished by 
deep cultivation and pulverization of the soil. Plants, 
however, do not require any more moisture than in any 
other region, and when the quantity consumed by the 
plant during its period of growth is carefully gauged 
that is the amount of water to give the soil, with 
about 25 per cent added to the account of evapora- 
tion. 

After all is said the quantity of water to be given 
the soil artificially is governed, in a great measure, by 
the nature of the soil. In Chapter V, "Relations of 
Water to the Soil," this subject is treated and the 
reader is referred to that chapter for the facts and 
figures. There is one axiomatic proposition which is 
here repeated in this connection because it is the key 
to the whole matter : "The more water the soil contains 
in its pores the greater the evaporation." Plants are 
like the hunian body — gorge it, even with the most nour- 
ishing foods, and it becomes sick; give it too little to 
keep up its system and it becomes anaemic. With just 
enough, an equilibrium is maintained and health is se- 
cured as a matter of course. This idea is what the 
author seeks to convey in calling attention to the fact 
that what a plant needs is the amount of provision 
to mlake for it ; all beyond that is superfluous, a waste 
of material, not productive of any beneficial results. 



Chapter XVIII. 

MEASUREMENT OP WATER. 

If we fill a gallon measure with water we know 
that we have 231 cubic inches of water which weighs 
eight and one-third pounds. That is the United States 
standard. We also know, because it is easy to measure 
it, that a cubic foot of water weighs sixty-two and one- 
half pounds and measures 1,728 cubic inches, equal to 
seven and one-half gallons. 

When it comes to measure water for irrigation 
purposes it is difficult to ascertain the exact quantity 
measured, owing to arbitrary standards of what the 
measure should be. Besides that, the various States 
and countries are not agreed upon a universal stand- 
ard of measurement, so that when one reads of fifty 
inches being required to raise a crop, his measurement 
may mean a much less number of inches if measured ac- 
cording to some other standard. Ten thousand gallons 
of water by accurate measurement may be run into 
a reservoir, and in twenty-four hours or less that num- 
ber of gallons will be materially reduced, but the loss 
can be accurately estimated, and so can the exact quan- 
tity run out of it for any purpose be measured almost 
to a drop. But in the case of taking water from a 
running or flowing stream or ditch, various difficulties 
stand in the way of accurate measurement. 

In measuring water from streams, ditches and run- 
ning or flowing water, generally three standards, or 
"units of measure'^ as they are called, have been agreed 
upon. They are the inch, the cubic foot per second, 
and the acre-foot. 

THE INCH. 

The "inch" as a unit of water measurement origi- 
nated with the placer miners of the West and was 

202 



^Vi 













§.^ 



Measurement of Water. 203 

adopted by irrigators when water came to be used upon 
the land for the growing of crops. It is the volume of 
water which will flow through an inch-square open- 
ing or orifice with a certain other volume of water over 
and above it tcT^give it what is known as "pressure/^ Both 
the opening as to size and the depth of water above it 
are regulated by the laws of some of the States, and in 
many localities it is regulated by custom — ^that is, by 
agreement. The definition given in the laws of Colo- 
rado will furnish an idea of what constitutes an inch: 

"Water sold by the inch shall be measured as fol- 
lows, to-wit: Every inch shall be considered equal to 
an inch-square orifice under a five-inch pressure, and 
a five-inch pressure shall be from the top of the orifice 
of the box put into the banks of the ditch to the sur- 
face of the water." 

Of course, this opening may be larger than one 
inch square; for instance, six inches, or twelve inches, 
but in that case the inch will become multiplied into 
as many inches as there are inches in the opening. At 
six inches the volume of water would be thirty-six 
inches, and at twelve inches there would be delivered 
144 inches of water. A simple and usual way to meas- 
ure the inch and retain the pressure is to make the 
opening one inch wide and any number of inches long 
— a slot, so to speak ; over this slot is arranged a sliding 
board that can be moved back and forth any number of 
inches of actual measurement with a carpenter's rule. 
By this device there will always be the required volume 
of water, or pressure, above the inch orifice. 

Many irrigators roughly measure the quantity of 
water delivered from a ditch, or canal, by calculsrting 
the number of square inches in a cross section of the 
ditch and calling the result so many inches of water, 
but this is not a safe rule to follow, for pressure and 
the velocity of the stream of water are not taken into 



204 The Primer of Irrigation. 

consideration, and they make a vast difference some- 
times in the quantity of water delivered. The orifice 
measurement under pressure is the most accurate and 
gives better satisfaction. 

The inch, however, as a standard of measurement, 
or unit, is of very little use except for the measure- 
ment of small quantities of water. It may be adapted 
to the distribution of water from small main ditches 
or their laterals. 

CUBIC FOOT PER SECOND OR "SECOND-FOOT.'' 

Owing to the inconveniences of the "inch" as a 
unit of measurement, and the limitation on the me- 
chanical device for measuring it, the cubic foot per sec- 
ond or "second-foot'^ has been adopted as better adapted 
to the measurement of both large and small quantities of 
water; indeed, it is made the legal unit in most of the 
arid States and Territories in water contracts and for 
defining the amounts appropriated from streams. But 
although made the unit of measurement it is used in 
connection with the inch — that is, a cubic foot per sec- 
ond is distributed to farmers according to the number 
of inches it is supposed to contain. This is fixed by law 
and the following table will show the variations in the 
number of inches contained in a cubic foot per second : 

In California, Idaho, Nevada and Utah fifty min- 
ers' inches equal one cubic foot per second, measured 
under a four-inch pressure from the center of the orifice. 

In Arizona and Montana forty miners' inches equal 
one cubic foot per second, measured under a six-inch 
pressure from the top of the orifice. 

In Colorado 38.4 miners' inches equal one cubic 
foot per second, measured under a five-inch pressure 
from the top of the orifice. 

A second-foot is a cubic foot which passes a given 
point in a ditch or canal in one second of time, and to 
measure the number of second feet it is only necessary 



Measurement of Water. ms 

tf}ll^ ^\^ ""'"''«'■ °f ^<=<=onds of time by the cubio 
feet of the stream to ascertain the total quantity of 
water. To make this clearer let tbp r«o^^.^ ■ ■'^- 
a small stream filling a square condui oTbt oTeTo? 
wide and one foot deep. This eiyes a strrarn f^! V 
or sectional area of which is one square Tot Vr 
If the water runs through this conduit or box at tte 
speed of one foot per second of time, that will m™ 
exactly one cubic foot per second, or oneTecond foo? 
If the water moyes at a higher speed, as for exam nt 

leet per second. If the conduit or stream is five fpp+ 

sZte"fit*":ndM"' deep, the area of ite fL i ?oo 
square teet, and the water flowing one foot per second 

onSieT- if i? n^ f 'T r'''' ''''' ^^ «^°"" " -' 
wni be Vnn n K I *T° ^''* P"'' ^<^'=°°'J' then the volume 
will be 300 cubic feet per second of time 

c+. /"l "measuring the flow of a stream it will be under- 
stood from the foregoing that the width, depth and 
speed or_ yelocity are calculated. Streams, howeyer 
are yery irregular in their measurements and the yebc- 
ity of the water IS not fixed. For instance, the water 
flows more rapidly in the center or where it is Jt^- 
along the shore where it is shallow the f rict on aSt 
the bank and bottom retard it quite perceptibly More 

hS at thr*"/°"^ r'""^'' ^«Pidl/belo^ th^ surfece 
than at the surface. In such case it is estimated that 
the place of the greatest motion is about one- hM of 
the distance beneath the surface, this being the localitj 
where the water is least impeded by friction. ^ 

It IS manifestly impossible for one to stand at the 
deliyeiy point of the water, watch in hand, and calcu! 
late the number of second-feet that flow, hence a simple 

nn°e r"\r?^/''-%^?^.'"^ ^*'-«^"' '« q'^ite common 

end o?'tb?r •^''*' \' 'fu^ °^ ^'°»S the bank and each 

-a 1 n inf '' "^^^^ihy a stake. Then a light float 

a chip will answer the purpos€--is cast into the 



206 The Primer of Irrigation. 

stream above the upper stake and the exact time it 
passes is noted, and also the exact time it passes the 
lower stake. If the float requires twenty seconds to 
travel between the two stakes, then the velocity of the 
water is assumed to be five feet per second. Other 
floats are necessary, for the stream runs with unequal 
velocity, but the average speed together with the aver- 
age measurement is taken as the basis of a calculation 
and the number of second-feet determined from that. 
Thus, if the width averages twenty feet, the depth four 
feet, the cross sectional area is eighty square feet. Then, 
if the rate of flow is two feet per second, we have a 
volume of 160 second-feet. 

THE ACRE-FOOT. 

The preceding water measurements are restricted 
to flowing water for irrigating purposes. There are 
numerous methods of measuring the volume of water 
more accurately than in the case of the chip, and it may 
be said that by means of submerged floats, current 
meters with electrical attachments, and other con- 
trivances and calculations based upon scientiflc princi- 
ples, very little water will escape the notice of the com- 
pany who has it for sale, and the farmer may be sure 
of receiving all he is entitled to for his land. By and 
by it will be possible for the irrigation farmer to esti- 
mate exactly the quantity of water required by his 
plants, and that amount he will be able to give them 
with accuracy and without any waste or excess. 

It is becoming the practice to store unused water 
during the periods when there is an abundant supply — 
that is, to lay aside in reservoirs enough to meet any 
possible contingency of drought or insuflScient supply 
when most needed. The standard of measurement of 
water stored in reservoirs, the unit of quantity, is 
designated as "an acre-foot"; that is, an amount of 
water which will cover one acre of ground, or 43,560 



Measurement of Water. 207 

square feet to a depth of one foot. This will irive of 
course 43,560 cubic feet, or 325,851 gaTlons^'Ve 
cubic foot per second flowing constantly for tw^ty-four 

tZJ^Z^T'^I *r ""T-^"'^' ^'^'J^^"- this it'^is not 
difficult to convert cubic feet per second into acre-feet 

r^sLotft/^ ''"''"*j,'^ "^-^^^^ *° be stored Tn 
reservoirs for the use and requirements of crons The 

reservoirs themselves may also be measured in the same 
manner as a tank, but allowance must be made fw 
evaporation and absorption. 

To further explain the technical units of measure- 
ments into quantities, the following table is givTn 

One second-foot equals 450 gallons per minute. 

One cubic foot equals 7.5 gallons 

hours^rorgtniT' '^° ^"^-'"^ '-^ *^^"*^-^°" 

in twXS wf '°™" ^"*=''" ^-^"^^ ^-' --f-t 

c;v+),°''' ^""?'"^ ^°'°'^'^° ^°«hes equal five and one- 
sixth acre-feet m twenty-four hours 

four hour?'"'^'^'' '"* '^''''' ^^'^°° &^"°"« '"^ *^e^ty- 
feet in^irt'tyr ^'^'^''^ "'^^"^"^ ^"<^ "^''^If -- 

One million gallons equal 3.069 acre-feet. 

Taking water from streams and ditches nnen tn f),« 
atmosphere and its changes, rapid evajora iof seepaS 
and absorption, is always attended with an enormoS^ 
waste, the consequence being that the famer ™ver 
knows and no man can tell him whether he fs o?viL„ 
h^s crops the quantity of water they absolutely reS 
He can not tel how much of the water applied to the 
soil IS utilized by the crops, or is carried off by drain 
age, seepage, infiltration to some portion of the land 



208 The Primer of Irrigation. 

where it is not needed and generally lost for useful 
purposes. He knows, however, that so much water is 
measured out to him and that he pays for the amount 
that runs through the head gate, whether it is of any 
practical use to him or not. The returns from his crops 
do not represent as much as he hoped, for the expense 
takes away a very large slice of his profits. His water 
tax may represent one-third of his receipts, and though 
he may be well aware that he never received the water 
he pays for — ^that is, it never was utilized by his crops — 
there is no way out of his embarrassment, he must pay 
or quit. His farm belongs to him — that is, he has the 
deed to it — ^but he is paying rent on it all the time. 



^ 



Chapter XIX. 

PUMPS AND IRRIGATION MACHINERY. 

In Chapter XII is given a calculation of the amount 
of water precipitated upon the earth's surface and 
carried into the soil. The amount is enormous, and 
if not carried off in the variety of ways mentioned 
would soon reduce the surface of the globe to an un- 
inhabitable morass. Moreover, if the annual precipita- 
tions were uniform in all places there would not bo 
any necessity for irrigation or anxiety about drouths 
and an insufficient water supply. 

We know it to be a fact that all this tremendous 
annual mass of water poured from the clouds upon the 
land, or at least a great percentage of it, is carried into 
the soil, where it filters and seeps down by the force 
of gravity as far as it can, or until it encounters some 
obstruction, and if it can not run, seep or drain off 
back into surface conveyances it remains stationary, 
waiting for an exit. 

The water from rivers and streams is a very small 
quantity compared with the quantity beneath the sur- 
face. It is, in fact, the "run-off" from rain, snow or 
saturations of the soil that is utilized in ditch and 
canal irrigation, and that run-off varies in amount 
from a flood to a thread-like, meandering stream, which 
is an aggravation as a source of irrigation water. Of 
course, there are exceptions in large streams, the great 
waterways of the country, some of them the main 
arteries of commerce and apparently inexhaustible in 
water supply. 

We have not, however, reached the full limit of 
land cultivation by irrigation, and when the vast re- 
gions yet unreclaimed, but the most fertile in the 

909 



210 The Primer of Irrigation, 

world, shall have been put under water, or, rather, be 
ready for water, as a scientist recently observed, "Where 
is that water to be got T' The fact is that it would re- 
quire the services of several Mississippis to supply the 
demand, and even then in a dry season there would be 
a deficiency. It was owing to the fact that there was 
not surface water enough, and that the reclamation 
of arid and semi-arid lands- had, apparently, come to 
a standstill, that the Government has interested itself 
in the subject of reclamation by irrigation and turned 
its attention to the construction of gigantic dams, 
reservoirs and the sinking of wells to secure an ade- 
quate volume of water for the purpose of building an 
empire of fruitfulness in what has always been consid- 
ered an unfertile and dreary desert. 

That there is an abundance of water beneath the 
surface of the earth is beyond controversy. There is 
not a desert spot on the globe which, lurking down 
below its burnt exterior, does not contain natural reser- 
voirs of water in abundance. Even the midst of Sa- 
hara is beginning to blossom like a rose with water 
brought from beneath its sands with very little trouble, 
and in our own country the great American desert is 
becoming a vast green pasture and orchard of thriving 
trees and vines through a little scratching of the sur- 
face to obtain the life-giving moisture that never fails 
to be where it is wanted. 

All this leads to the subject of wells, but as that 
matter has been gone over in a fairly full manner, and 
as this book is not intended to be scientific or techni- 
cal, but a primer of irrigation, the methods of digging 
wells, their variety and history may very well be omit- 
ted and this chapter limited to the means of extracting 
the water from them. 

PUMPS. 

The only suitably economical method of raising 
water from a lower to a higher level, as from a well, 



Pumps and Irrigation Machinery. 211 

is by means of a pump. When pumps were first in- 
vented or used it is difficult to say, and, moreover, it 
is of very little moment to know the exact date or the 
inventor's name. It is quite certain that if he were 
able to return today and view the innumerable varie- 
ties of them, and their tremendous capacity, he would 
not be able to recognize the principles he sought to put 
in a practical form. 

SUCTION" PUMPS. 

The ordinary pump is the suction pump, con- 
structed upon the principle that water will fill a 
vacuum to the height of 33.9 feet vertically at sea 
level. The piston of this pump fits tight in a smooth 
cylinder and has a small valve in its upper end which 
opens upward. The piston is lowered as far as the 
piston rod will permit, the valve opening to allow it 
to descend easily. Then the piston is lifted up by 
means of a level to the full length of the piston rod. 
the valve this time being closed. By repeating this 
up and down motion a vacuum is created in the cylin- 
der of the pump— that is, the atmosphere is extracted— 
and if there is any water it begins to come up and can be 
made to overflow through a spout placed at the surface. 
Now, water can not be "sucked'' up in this manner more 
than 33.9 feet in a perfect vacuum, and as a perfect 
vacuum, ^ that is a reservoir absolutely free from at- 
mospheric air, the estimated height at sea level to which 
water can be drawn by means of a suction pump does 
not exceed twenty-eight feet. 

The altitude above the sea level and various at- 
mospheric conditions reduce this suction lift materially, 
for instance : 1,500 feet above sea level the suction lift 
is 25 feet; 1,500 to 2,000 feet, 241/2 feet; 3,000 feet, 23 
feet; 4,000 feet, 22 feet; 5,000 feet, 21 feet; 6,000 feet, 
201/2 feet; 7,000 feet, 20 feet; 8,000 feet, 19 feet; 9,000 
feet, 18 feet; 10,000 feet, which is as high as pumping 



812 The Primer of Irrigation. 

for irrigating water will probably go, water can be 
sucked up only 17 feet. Some engineers say that 20 
per cent less would be a factor of safety in putting in 
a pump. 

These pumps can do a great deal of work if kept 
constantly at it. Take a suction, single-acting pump, 
that is, one with only one cylinder, having a cylinder 
five inches in diameter, and a six-inch length of stroke, 
and it will deliver one-half a gallon per stroke. The 
faster the man who works the pump makes the strokes, 
the more water the pump will deliver. At ten strokes 
per minute, which may be called "leisurely," he would 
be able to raise 300 gallons an hour, and l3y doubling 
the diameter of the pipe or cylinder, he would increase 
the capacity of the pump four times and deliver two 
gallons per stroke. By using horse power such an ordi- 
nary pump may be made to raise six times as much 
water, and with a longer lift, one of ten feet, one horse 
power, an ordinary pump is able to raise 200 gallons per 
minute, an amount sufficient to give an acre of ground 
half an inch of water in ten hours. 

WINDMILLS. 

Animal power is not commensurate with irrigation 
on anything but a very small scale, as for a small kitchen 
garden with a few small fruits. Other power must be 
brought into requisition to attain profit in gardening 
or general agriculture, where irrigation is practiced. 
The most common and economical power, though vari- 
able at times, is the wind. It is utilized by means of a 
windmill, which may very properly be called a "wind 
engine.'* 

The origin of windmills, like that of numerous 
other things of benefit to mankind is lost in the ob- 
scurity of time. About the twelfth century they came 
into practical use in Holland for the purpose of drain- 
ing and grinding grain. This mill was of a very unique 



Pumps and Irrigation Machinery. 213 

construction, with a shaft called the wind shaft, which 
carried four arms or whips on which long, rectangular 
sails were spread. The whip carrying the sail was often 
thirty to eighty feet long, so that the tips of the sails de- 
scribed a circle sixty to eighty feet in diameter. These 
sails came down close to the ground, and every one who 
has read the adventures of Don Quixote will not be sur- 
prised that his encounter with the windmill on the sup- 
position that it was a cruel giant ended disastrously. 

There is now at Lawrence, Kan., the ruins of what 
is said to be the first windmill of this type erected in 
the United States. It was erected by an" English com- 
pany at an expense of $10,000 upon the Holland plan. 
Since that time the windmill has become a thing of 
beauty and power, and for cheapness it is within the 
reach of every farmer, and is one of the most economical 
aids to irrigation that can he devised. 

It is indeed the simplest appliance for raising water 
known, and as showing the capacity of a first-class 
modern windmill, the following table is submitted as 
founded on experience and positive guarantee. The 
''size'' mentioned in the first column means the diam- 
eter of the wheel, and the "lift" expressed at the top 
of the columns refers to the distance of the piston to the 
point of delivery: 

Size .120,106 2.75 80,070 1.84 49,742 1.14 

Feet 10-ft. Lift. 15-ft. Lift. 25-ft. Lift. 

10 Sq.ft. Acres. Sq.ft. Acres. Sq.ft. Acres. 

12 37,161 .85 24,775 .57 14,768 .34 

14 66,765 1.53 44,510 1.02 26,134 .60 

16 85,982 1.97 57,321 1.31 34,757 .79 

The table represents the number of square feet and 
acres the windmill will irrigate one inch deep per 
average day's work of ten hours. It is conceivable that 
a sixteen-foot mill will irrigate at least twenty acres of 
land, and by running double time, as some do, will store 



214 The Primer of Irrigation. 

up water to supply deficiencies caused by lack of wind. 
At the rate of supply indicated, every acre will receive 
its inch of water on alternate five or ten days, which, 
during a growing season of ninety or one hundred days, 
means ample to raise almost any sort of crop, provided 
small furrow or tight trough conveyances are used, and 
after cultivation practiced. 

When it is considered that an inch of water on an 
acre of ground means 27,154 gallons, it will be easily 
comprehended that such a windmill working out of the 
growing or irrigating season will store abundant water 
in a storage reservoir. It means the storage of at least 
five million gallons that may be used for winter or fall 
irrigation and furnish an abundant supply for stock 
and household purposes. 

As to the cost of such an irrigating outfit, exclusive 
of the cost of the well and reservoir, the following are 
the ruling prices complete, ready to put up and begin 
pumping : 

Ten-foot mill, $62 ; twelve-foot, $97 ; fourteen-foot. 
$133 ; sixteen-foot, $195. 

Of course, the purchaser must first find the water 
with which to irrigate, and plenty of it. He should 
avoid doing as did a friend of the author, who dug a 
well 108 feet deep, with about six feet of water at the 
bottom. After putting up a twenty-four foot mill, he 
began making preparations to flood forty acres of 
ground. In less than two hours his pump ran dry. 
and on investigating he found that the well was dry 
and it took eight hours for it to fill up again. 

RESERVOIR. 

The reservoir should be located on the highest point 
of land it is desired to irrigate, with the bottom of the 
reservoir above it if possible. Then plow deep around 
the line to avoid earth seams under the embankment 



Pumps and Irrigation Machinery. 216 

The interior should be plowed and scraped toward the 
line of the embankment and harrowed until the earth 
becomes finely pulverized. This bottom should then be 
carefully and thoroughly puddled. If hard pan or clay 
can be found, then dig down to it and establish the bot- 
tom of the reservoir on it as a sure foundation for a 
water-tight receptacle. 

The height of the embankment depends upon the 
amount of water capacity, but it should not be less than 
four by ten feet wide at ground level, and two feet wide 
at the tip. The inside slope should be gradual, to pre- 
vent washing by ripples or waves, and it may be sodded 
or seeded down to grass until a stiff sod is formed, wliich 
will prevent any washing away of the earth. 

The outer embankment may be steep or nearly per- 
pendicular, but as there will always be some seepage, it 
would be wise to make it slope gently and use it for 
raising garden truck, small fruits, or whatever else the 
farmer may fancy in the way of ornament or profit. 

As to size, that must be governed according to the 
irrigator's needs. An acre of reservoir would not be 
too much to accommodate a good windmill, and this ac- 
cording to the measurements already given, may be 
made to contain half a million or a million gallons. If 
the stored water is to be used frequently, then the size 
of the reservoir may be lessened. 

For stock purposes, a smaller reservoir may be 
constructed below or away from the larger one, and into 
this smaller one the water can easily be run as needed 
for a change or freshening; the excess of unused water 
may be run upon any plowed ground to soak into the 
soil, for after all is said, where there is moisture in the 
soil, the labor of irrigation is easy and the quantity of 
water required very much reduced. After once filling 
the reservoir it should never be entirely emptied, for if 



216 The Primer of Irrigation. 

the bottom is permitted to dry it will surely crack and 
then, when refilled, the water will drain out. 

TANKS. 

It is well to have a tank of some kind to provide 
against sudden dearth of water from lack of wind, or 
stoppage of machinery for repairs. With a reservoir 
however, the necessity of a tank is not so apparent 
unless the water is to be used for household purposes. 
In many kitchen or truck gardens, it is recommended to 
sink a barrel or square tank at various places, say, at 
the head of the beds where gross feeding plants are 
raised. Beets, carrots, onions, etc., with radishes and 
lettuce, or salads of any kind, like plenty of water, and 
when they need it they must have it. It is not always 
profitable to run water in a furrow over a long stretch 
of soil to give a few vegetables the trifle of water they 
may happen to need. The waste is too great to be worth 
while. Hence tanks come to the rescue and the water 
may be raised from them by means of a hand pump. 

In large fields, where drainage pipes or tile are 
laid, and a system adopted which will merge or unite 
the tile into one basin or large cross drainage tile, it has 
already been said that by sinking openings through the 
soil in the nature of wells down to the subterranean 
tile and stopping up the outlets, the water may be made 
to rise to the surface or near it and be utilized by means 
of pumps, or through ditches or flumes if the land below 
is down grade, or lower than the source of supply. In- 
stead of a cross drainage system to catch the surplus 
water, tanks may be sunk and the drainage tile made to 
end in them. 

For windmill purposes to store water for house- 
hold uses, tanks may be purchased ready made in cy- 
press, pine or iron at from about $8 for a 70-gallon 
tank to $100 for a 5,000-gallon one. These tanks are 
made all the way up to 100,000 gallons capacity. 



Fumps and Irrigation Machinery. 217 

HORSE POWER OUTFIT. 

Pumps are arranged so as to be worked by horse 
power, using one or two horses. The one-horse power 
pump is fitted for a 3-inch suction pipe and a 2i^-inch 
discharge pipe. This will deliver 53.9 gallons per min- 
ute. ^ The two-horse power outfit is fitted with a 4-inch 
suction pipe and a 3-inch discharge pipe, the capacity 
of which is 102.9 gallons per minute. The cost of the 
one-horse power is about $210 complete, and the two- 
horse power, $240. 

Some prefer the horse power outfit to the windmill, 
because they do not consider themselves at the mercy 
of the shifting and variable winds of heaven. On the 
prairies and near the sea coast, however, the windmill 
is preferred as the winds are nearly constant, at least 
they blow with sufficient force and long enough to sup- 
ply all the water needed. Wind at fifteen miles an hour 
is strong enough to work a windmill up to its full 
capacity. 

GASOLINE ENGINES. 

The gasoline engine for pumping purposes is grow- 
ing in favor, owing to the cheapness of the fuel and the 
capacity and simplicity of the engine. An engine that 
costs about $100 will furnish about 1% horse power, 
consume one gallon of gasoline in ten hours of steady 
work and supply 4,000 gallons of water. Other gaso- 
line engines ranging up to a water delivery of 10,000 
gallons and more an hour may be purchased at reason- 
able cost, and will do an enormous amount of work at a 
trifling expense. These engines are suitable in the 
barren regions where wood and coal can not be had for 
fuel without great expense. 

OTHER PUMPING POWER. 

Where conditions will admit of them, steam, hot 
air and even electricity are brought into requisition fox 



218 



The Primer of Irrigation. 



pumping water to be used in irrigating land. Coal, 
wood and other fuel, however, must be at hand in im- 
limited quantities, for all such power is a voracious 
feeder — the more power the more fuel. 

All the appliances and machinery for irrigation are 
being reduced to simplicity and the saving of water. 
Open canals and ditches with their loss of 50 per cent 
of water are becoming things of the past. Economy 
of use is now the rule, and the farmer who understands 
the needs of soil and plants makes a good profit out 
of his farm, whereas he would cultivate it at a loss 
without that knowledge. Eaising crops for market for 
profit has become a matter of dollars and cents, and a 
penny saved is a penny earned in agriculture as well as 
in the mercantile business. 

To save water is the great aim of irrigators, and 
where there were once open leaky ditches and canals 
there are now cemented water conveyances. On the 
large farm, as well as on the small one, it is beginning 
to be understood that gorging plants with water and 
saturating the soil is not the proper system for growing 
crops for profit. The lessons sought to be imparted in 
this book, if well learned and followed, can not fail to 
be of benefit to every farmer who reads it. The essen- 
tial principles only are given; each farmer must apply 
them for himself, for he can not have an apostle at his 
elbow all the time to guide and direct him when he is 
on the point of making a mistake. 



Chapter XX. 

IRRIGATION OP PROFITABLE CROPS. 

The crops a farmer should raise on his land with 
profit to himself depend upon numerous conditions, 
many of them variable. No matter what his desires 
may be, no matter what his neighbor may do or raise, 
or how much he may succeed, every farmer is a tub 
that must stand on its own bottom. He must say to 
himself: "What is my land fit for? Wliat are my 
means of cultivation, my water supply? What does 
the market demand, and how can I reach that mar- 
ket without paying out all my profits in transporta- 
tion?'' 

If all the conditions are unfavorable to the raising 
of crops with profit to himself, the author's advice to 
him is to raise nothing in the way of crops for mar- 
ket, but raise all the produce possible on your land 
and feed it to stock — cattle, sheep, hogs, poultry. There 
is always an unvarying demand for these products of 
the farm, and though the market may be glutted some- 
times, yet on the whole, all the year 'round, the farmers 
always come out something ahead. 

It appears to be the destiny of a farmer to al- 
ways try experiments, put seed into his ground, and 
then toil and perspire to make it grow to maturity, 
and then get nothing for his pains. A farmer will put 
certain seeds into his ground, and, as this appears to 
be inevitable, the only thing that can be done is to 
help him realize on his expectations. 

CEREALS. 

Every farmer plants wheat. He is bound to do 
so or feel that he is not really a farmer. 

This grain should always be sown on high ground 
and not in a deep, mellow soil, for it is not a deep- 

219 



220 The Primer of Irrigation. 

rooted plant. In the arid and semi-arid regions, 
where the rains do not fall until late in November- 
or beginning of December, the wheat may be plowed 
under after sowing the surface, and this at any time 
during September and October. It is good dry farm- 
ing to do so, and even if the grain is to be irrigated 
the effect is to have a good stand by the time water is 
put upon the land. The first rain that comes sprouts 
the seed and sends it up three or four inches, where 
it is ready for another rain or for an irrigation. It 
is the same with all other cereals. 

This system would never do, however, in a moist 
soil. In such a case the soil should be carefully plowed 
shallow and harrowed and the seed drilled in, about a 
bushel to the acre. If the ground is surface dry it 
should be flooded, say two inches, then in twenty-four 
hours harrow and drill in the seed. Do not roll land 
where irrigation is practiced, because it is liable to 
cake, and this means evaporation. When the grains 
are up two or three inches it is good to run a light 
harrow over the field. It loosens the soil and does not 
harm the grain, even if it does pull up a few plants; 
there is always too much sown, anyway. Twenty to 
thirty days apart will be enough irrigation — the first 
one when the grain is five or six inches high, say two 
inches, and a month after that one inch. In hot 
climates it is beneficial to give a third irrigation when 
the grain is heading or when it is in the milk. The 
condition of the soil, as well as that of the plant, must 
be considered and the quantity of water gauged ac- 
cording to that. Digging down six inches will tell 
the condition as to moisture, and breaking off a stalk 
or two tell the condition of the plant. If "welP^ the 
stalk will be juicy and damp to the touch. If dry, 
yellowish, and breaks easily, give it water as soon as 
possible. 



Irrigation of Profitable Crops. 221 

The Chinese and the Japanese plant their grain 
in ridges about twenty inches apart and use only about 
ten pounds per acre. But an acre will produce more, 
at least just as much, as when drilled or sown broadcast. 
One grain of wheat will "stool" out into sixty, and 
sometimes eighty, healthy stalks in this way. There 
are some small farmers who plant wheat along the 
borders of their vegetable and small fruit beds and give 
it careful cultivation. If planted farther apart, so as 
to admit of the passage of a cultivator between the 
rows and cultivated like corn, the result is most aston- 
ishing. The fact is that when a bushel of wheat can 
be grown in as small a space as a bushel of corn or 
potatoes there is no reason why wheat should not be 
grown in that manner, at least on small farms. One 
thing to be considered where wheat is concerned is 
that an excess of water spoils the food value of the 
grain. For feeding or forage purposes it does not make 
so much difference, as water in abundance increases 
the nutritive elements in the husk. 

BARLEY. 

Barley is the standard crop for forage, or "hay,'' 
in the arid and semi-arid regions. It will grow on 
almost any kind of soil, and being a deep-rooted plant 
it does not depend so much on irrigation as wheat. It 
will grow a good stalk and form a good head for hay 
with six inches of rainfall and produce good, market- 
able grain with ten inches and no irrigation. 

The soil should be plowed deep and well pulver- 
ized, then drilled in either in the fall or spring, or 
sown broadcast. To raise it to perfection, and it re- 
pays the labor of doing so, it should be given water 
when about four inches high and another irrigation 
when the heads are in the milk. It is a very profitable 
crop to raise for brewing purposes, the demand for 
malting barley being constant and increasing. More- 



222 The Primer of Irrigation. 

over, the price is much better than that for wheat. It 
will grow two miles above the sea level and flourish 
in alkali soil that will kill a sugar beet. 

OATS. 

Oats, fall or spring planted, require plenty of 
water and attention, or they will refuse to grow. There 
is one exception, however, and that is the case of the 
"oat hills" in southern California, where a crop of 
fine oats springs up spontaneously every spring. The 
stalks grow as high as a man^s head, with well rounded 
heads, juicy and succulent. Just before the fall rains 
the ground is cleared of the old stalks, a treetop or a 
harrow dragged over it roughly, and then left to itself ; 
the grain comes up in about three days after the first 
rain of the season and does not require any irrigation 
at all. The origin of this singular exception to the 
rules relating to oats is in the old padres of the mis- 
sions, who, when traveling about on their ponies for 
many hundreds of miles, always carried a bag of grain 
at their saddlebow, and when they came to a spot that 
looked fertile they scattered the seed with a blessing 
that it might grow. For over a hundred years this 
grain grew and there was no man to harvest it, so it 
ripened and returned back into the soil whence it 
came, and now, to this day, it keeps on sprouting and 
never ceasing, the soil below being dry and the seed 
sprouting when the moisture reaches it. 

However, many farmers irrigate oats frequently 
under the supposition that they need more water than 
any other cereal, and the proof of it is that the crop is 
enormous when well irrigated. 

EYE. 

This is a hardy annual that will grow to full ma- 
turity and give a good harvest with very little care and 
irrigation. A medium irrigation when about half 



Irrigation of Profitable Crops. 223 

grown and another when heading is sufficient. Culti- 
vation, however, should be deep and the soil well pul- 
verized. 

CORN. 

Corn is a deep-rooted plant and hence the soil 
should be plowed deep and care taken that there is 
moisture in the subsoil. There is no need of surface 
moisture, wherefore deep furrow irrigation, with after- 
liberal cultivation and soil pulverization, will produce 
a fine crop. 

A side hill where there is seepage water is most 
favorable for all the varieties of com. In some in- 
stances small fields of corn on a side hill have pro- 
duced marvelously by merely filling a ditch at the 
top of the slope and allowing it to seep down into the 
root zone. On flat land, with subsoil moisture, one 
watering when the plant is tasseling will be ample. 

In the arid and semi-arid regions corn is plowed 
under dry, as is the case with wheat and other cereals. 
Five or six grains are dropped in every third furrow 
a good step of the plowman apart and left to itself 
with a good deep cultivation when about a foot high, 
the earth being thrown over against the stalks. 

Corn does remarkably well in deep, rich soil, but 
will grow very well in any soil provided the roots can 
reach moisture. The manufacture of starch in the 
plant ecomony demands great drafts upon the chemical 
laboratory of the soil. The bottom of the stalk of 
a young shoot of corn is as sweet as sugar cane, which 
is proof that the plant is drawing its food far below 
the surface, and that it is preparing to manufacture 
the starch which is afterward found in the ripened 
grain. 

Corn grows better in ridges than in hills, even 
when not irrigated. In all cases the earth must be 
pulled up around and close to the stalks, not only for 



224 The Primer of Irrigation. 

the purpose of mulching against evaporation of the 
moisture, but to shield the process of converting sugar 
into starch, a process quickly stopped by exposure to 
the elements or to desiccating atmospheric air. 

All of the foregoing cereals may be grown for 
forage, and if cut when in the milk they are productive 
of good flesh on cattle and will grow at the rate of 
from four to six tons to the acre. Where dry farming 
is practiced, and the season is unfavorable for the per- 
fection of the grain, the plant is cut for fodder or 
hay and fed to the cattle, and in the case of corn it is 
fed green to milch cows. 

RICE. 

This is an amphibious plant; some call it aquatic. 
However that may be, the ground is prepared for it 
as for wheat, by thorough tilling and pulverizing. The 
rice is sown about eighty pounds to the acre and then 
harrowed and rolled. Left to itself, it sprouts and 
grows up to about five inches without showing any 
aquatic properties. But the farmer then puts about 
an inch of water, perhaps two inches — that is, covers 
the field under one or two inches of water — and as the 
plant grows he adds more water until the field is buried 
six to ten inches deep. The plant grows vigorously, 
and when the grain is in the milk the water is run 
off, and by the time the rice is ripe the ground is dry 
enough to harvest. It is harvested very mu-ch the same 
as wheat — put into bundles and piled up to be cured 
and ready for the separator or thresher. 

In its wild state rice is essentially aquatic; the 
plant roots never find themselves in anything but mud. 
From time immemorial the Chinese have treated it 
as a semi-aquatic plant, and if any one has ever tried 
to raise it like wheat the author has not been able to 
learn. Perhaps it might be so grown and produce a 



Irrigation of Profitable Crops. 225 

new variety and be an addition to our valuable list of 
cereals. 

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS. 

OISER WILLOW. 

The oiser willow is used in the manufacture of 
baskets and its culture may be made very profitable 
if near the market of a large city or basket manu- 
factory. 

Some years ago Mr. G. Groezinger, a vineyardist 
near Yountville, Napa County, Cal., sent to Germany 
for some cuttings. He received about fifty and planted 
them along one of his lateral ditches, which always 
contained water, more or less of a good supply. The 
cuttings took root and grew beautifully, and the next 
year he pruned the plants down to stumps and planted 
the cuttings all along the ditch for several hundred 
feet. They grew bunchy, with thick clumps of long, 
slender branches drooping over the ditch and made a 
delightful shade. Calling the attention of a San 
Francisct) basketmaker to them, the latter bought the 
supply on the ground and sent men out to prune the 
plants. They cut off the long branches and cast them 
into the ditch to soak in the water, and in a week or 
so came out again and stripped off the bark, leaving 
slender, white, pliable branches, which were speedily 
made into fine, marketable baskets of all sizes and 
shapes. After the fourth year of his planting the 
original cuttings Mr. Groezinger received more than 
$1,500 per year income from the cuttings, the pur- 
chaser doing all the work of harvesting them. 

The plant will grow in any climate, provided it 
has abundant water during the growing season. Along 
a ditch is its habitat. 

FLAX AND HEMP. 

These two textile fabric plants, so to speak, may 
be raised to perfection by irrigation. They require. 



226 The Primer of Irrigation. 

however, a moist soil, and for that sub-irrigation 
would be the proper system of irrigating them. They 
are deep-rooted plants and may be planted in drills or 
beds. Both plants are profitable for their fiber and 
for their seeds, the latter yielding up to twenty bush- 
els per acre about a ton or two tons of fiber. The lat- 
ter must be soaked in a ditch or other receptacle to 
separate the fiber from its hard envelope. 

HOPS. 

This plant should find a place in every garden 
and on every farm, if not for market purposes at least 
for household uses. It is very easily grown, being a 
deep-rooted perennial which needs a moist subsoil. 
The plant is propagated from cuttings, three eyes to 
each piece planted. At least four inches is the proper 
depth to plant the cuttings, and they will speedily 
come up and spread runners out in every direction. 
They should be pruned down to a few and then poled. 

COTTON AND TOBACCO. 

These two valuable products belong to field cul- 
ture on an immense scale. Cotton may well be said to 
be "king*' and tobacco its "heir apparent/' There 
are no two plants in the world so necessary — that is, 
cotton for its economical uses and tobacco as an article 
of luxury. Cotton is a deep-rooted plant requiring a 
moist soil. Where irrigation is necessary the soil is 
irrigated preparatory to planting the seed and once 
again when the balls begin to form. The plant needs 
very little care, and in that respect it is the very oppo- 
site of tobacco. 

Tobacco requires a soil very carefully prepared. 
The plants are raised from seed in frames and set out 
the same as cabbage and tomatoes, carefully puddled 
in and the rows irrigated by a small stream until the 



Irrigation of Profitable Crops. 227 

plants take root, which they will do in a few days. 
Frequent and thorough cultivation of the soil is neces- 
sary, but water must be applied sparingly, one irriga- 
tion during the middle period of growth being suffi- 
cient, provided the cultivation is thorough and the 
subsoil moist. When the soil is dry and warm, irri- 
gation may be applied every ten days after the first 
month of growth. In the arid region top or leaf spray- 
ing is necessary, but tobacco is not recommended as a 
plant profitable in arid soil, it thriving best in a warm, 
moist climate. 

STATISTICS OP PRODUCTION. 

It may be of interest to know the amount of the 
foregoing profitable plants produced in the United 
S'tates. The following is an approximate of quantities 
as nearly as can be ascertained from the means of in- 
formation: 

Wheat 753,460,218 bushels 

Barley 178,795,890 bushels 

Oats 736,808,724 bushels 

Eye 30,344,830 bushels 

Com 2,522,519,891 bushels 

Rice 283,665,627 pounds 

Cotton 5,384,000,000 pounds 

Tobacco 500,000,000 pounds 

Hops 20,000,000 pounds (about) 

Flaxseed 5,000,000 bushels (about) 

The total value of which was in the neighborhood 
of two thousand million dollars ($2,000,000,000). 



CHAPTER XXI. 

IRRIGATION OF PROFITABLE PLANTS. 

It has been impressed upon the mind of the 
reader in the preceding chapters that plants draw 
their food from moisture and not from water. 
True, moisture comes from water, but the mean- 
ing sought to be conveyed is that moisture is a 
food solution, a preparation for nourishing the plant — 
its "pap/' so to speak. When water is applied to the 
soil it attacks the various soluble salts, both organic 
and inorganic, and causes a chemical change to take 
place, or, rather, a series of chemical changes, and 
in that way the elements in the soil are converted into 
food. There are fermentations, transformations and 
many radical changes effected, until the water con- 
verted into moisture can not be recognized as water 
at all or any more than vinegar, wine or potatoes can 
be called water, although they contain water as an 
element in their composition, as an ingredient. 

This fact can not be overestimated, because on its 
understanding hinges the art of irrigation. There 
are air plants which have no rooting in the soil, yet 
they could not live without moisture. There are also 
plants which flourish in the desert, where the soil is 
entirely dry for a hundred feet below the surface, yet 
these could not live without moisture. The question 
is. Where do they get it? They certainly do not re- 
quire water, for there is none within reach of their 
roots or leaves. They obtain it from the atmosphere, 
and this atmosphere is an element that must be reck- 
oned with by every irrigator. We know that there is 
always a certain quantity of moisture in the atmos- 
phere, which is better known by the name of "hu- 
midity ,'' and this humidity can be easily measured. 

When the atmosphere is charged with 80 to 100 
per cent of moisture, or humidity, that moisture is 

228 



Irrigation of Profitable Plmnts. 229 

precipitated upon the soil in the form of rain, snow, 
etc. From 50 per cent to 80_, when the air is cool, 
we have dew, fog, etc., visible to the eye. When the 
air is warm, however, the moisture is not perceptible 
to the e3^e, but it is there nevertheless. 

Now, with the atmosphere weighing or pressing 
upon the earth's surface about fifteen pounds to every 
square inch, there is not a nook, cranny or opening that 
it does not penetrate, and it carries with it the moisture 
it contains, and when it comes in contact with any ab- 
sorbent, as the soil undoubtedly is, it leaves its moist- 
ure there. It is for this reason that it is insisted upon 
so strenuously that the farmer must keep his soil open 
to the air — the soil should be aerated as much as pos- 
sible. This done carefully and constantly, the labor 
of irrigation is rendered easier, and its effects more 
perceptible; likewise less application of water wUll 
prove adequate to the raising of any plant. 

The necessity for this aeration of the soil is the 
same in the cereals alluded to in the last chapter as 
in the root plants and tubers. In the case of cereals, 
however, taking a wheat field as an illustration, it is 
impossible to cultivate the soil because the plants cover 
the surface of the ground closely. What can and 
should be done is to till the soil as deep as possible be- 
fore planting and harrow after the plants are up, say 
two or three inches. If any other port of cultivation 
is attempted the wheat and other grain must be cul- 
tivated as in corn, by being planted in rows. The 
production per acre would be greater than when sown 
broadcast or drilled, but that method is not convenient, 
at least it is not in vogue in the United States, and 
probably never will be in large field culture, it being 
easier and less laborious to flood the soil with water 
to create the requisite amount of moisture. 

But in the case of vegetables, roots and tubers 



i230 The Primer of Irrigation. 

there is no excuse for not aerating the soil, since these 
plants can not be planted so close together as to en- 
tirely cover the ground, except in the last stages of 
their leaf growth, when the crop is assured. Eunning 
ground vines even may be cultivated almost to the 
point of ripeness, and when, as in the case of water- 
melons, cucumbers and the like, or strawberries, the 
vines have covered the ground, a few rills of water 
permitted to find their own way beneath is better than 
a flooding, for the latter is apt to reach the stalks or 
stems and either rot them or bake the ground and 
choke off the air, thus killing the crop or injuring it 
materially. All this can be provided for at the last 
run of the cultivator, or stirring of the hoe, by leaving 
small furrows or depressions here and there for the 
water to run in as channels when cultivation is no 
longer possible without tearing up the plants. 

VEGETABLES. 

Potatoes and tubers generally favor a moist, cool 
soil, although in the arid regions under a very hot sun 
they grow to perfection and to an immense size. A 
15-pound Irish potato or a 30-pound sweet is pleasant 
to look upon, but not so well adapted to culinary re- 
quirements as those of a smaller and more convenient 
size. With too much water or an abundant supply 
potatoes become watery, for they are gross feeders — 
gluttons, in fact — and they must be restrained. 

It is not desirable to plant potatoes in hills where 
irrigation is practiced; better plant in rows on level 
ground and then run water in a furrow between the 
rows, which may be from three feet to four feet apart; 
the closer the rows the better, for then the vines will 
shade more surface and retain the moisture longer. 
In the rows plant the eyes from two to two and one- 
half feet apart. In the arid and semi-arid regions it 



Irrigation of Profi table Plants. 231 

is a good plan to plow under every third furrow, the 
plowman dropping several cuttings at every long step 
in the furrow. Of course, the soil must be well tilled 
preparatory to planting, and in a moist condition, then 
well harrowed and pulverized afterward. When the 
plants are up about an inch or two, run the cultivator 
through, or a small plow would be better, so that a 
small furrow can be left between the rows, the earth 
being thrown up against the plants. When the plants 
are up a foot and tubers begin to form, run water 
through the middle furrow for an hour or so and the 
next day run plow back and forth, throwing the earth 
over on the wet soil to form a ridge. The day after 
level the ground with a cultivator and let it alone for 
a week. After this, one more irrigation when the tu- 
bers are about the size of a hazelnut, or filbert, will 
be sufficient to mature the crop. The soil should al- 
ways be kept open and the moisture near the surface, 
for the potato has a tendency to crowd out of the soil. 
In the arid regions a singular peculiarity of the early 
potato is to grow to maturity before the plant is ready 
to flower. This is owing to the rapid underground 
growth and is of no consequence except that the tubers 
are all the better for absorbing the nourishment that 
should go into the flowers. Sweet potatoes have this 
curious habit also. One case which has been called to 
the attention of the author is that of a 2-rod row of 
sweet potatoes. The vines refused to grow more than 
an inch or two above the ground ; they did not become 
vines at all, but grew straight up as far as they grew 
at all. Thinking they needed water, they were irri- 
gated liberally, and every few days for three months 
water was applied and the soil kept loose. Wearied 
with the efforts to make these vines grow, a wise 
neighbor was called in, and after studying the mat- 
ter for a few minutes and listening to what had been 



232 The Primer of Irrigation. 

done to encourage their growth he took a spade and 
dug down into the head of the row, unearthing a 30- 
pound sweet potato or yam. Continuing this explora- 
tion all along the row, at least 100 sweet potatoes were 
dug out varying from thirty pounds down to five 
pounds. The growth had all been under ground, the 
tubers taking all the nourishment, leaving none for 
the tops. Cooking disclosed the fact that they were 
very coarse and rank, unfit for human food but pleas- 
ant to the palates of a pair of hogs which devoured 
them with a relish and asked for more in their pe- 
culiar language. 

For tubers generally, keep the water away from 
them and give them moisture. This may be done by 
permitting the furrow water to soak into the soil and 
then throwing it over toward the plants. Sub-irriga- 
tion is very favorable for the growth of tubers, and 
when the land is drained and the soil kept well open 
and finely pulverized there need be no fear of failure 
to raise a crop. Sandy loam is the best soil, although 
rich, well manured ground, consisting of mixed clay 
and sand or loam, is productive of good crops, but the 
richer the soil and the warmer, unless there is very 
quick, almost hothouse growth, is liable to cause rot 
or other diseases peculiar to tubers. 

Sweet potatoes may be grown to perfection, that 
is they will grow to be sweet potatoes out of which the 
sugar will bubble when baked, if planted in almost 
pure sand. This, of course, in the humid regions, for 
an arid sandheap would cook the cuttings before they 
had a chance to sprout. 

Turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips, salsify and other 
root crops will grow in any kind of soil if properly 
tilled and well irrigated, but if succulence is an ob- 
ject plant the seeds in rich, black loamy soil, plowed 



Irrigation of Profitable Plants. 233 

deep and well pulverized. They may be irrigated at 
any time the ground shows dryness by cutting a deep 
furrow within a foot or eighteen inches of the plant, 
taking care not to let the water reach the crown or 
rot will ensue. Flooding should not be practiced ex- 
cept in the case of field beets, and then only when 
the leaves shade the ground. Clean and thorough 
cultivation is necessary, and in the case of small roots 
moisture rather than water should be supplied by run- 
ning water in a furrow at least twelve inches distant 
and then drawing the moist earth over toward the 
plant the next day, covering the furrow immediately 
upon completing the irrigation to prevent evaporation 
and baking of the soil. 

THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 

Here is where irrigation can be made to shine 
like a gem in a barren waste. Our markets are filled 
with tasteless vegetables, unfit for table use. Without 
flavor and stringy, the housewife buys them every day 
because they represent green things and look plump, 
as if filled with succulence. But they are like apples 
of Sodom, or like the book St. John ate — sweet in his 
mouth and bitter in his stomach. 

The soil of a kitchen garden must be rich and ex- 
tremely well tilled. It should be thoroughly broken 
up and pulverized after plowing under well-rotted 
manure. Fertilizers are unobjectionable, certainly, but 
they do not tend to open the soil as does ordinary 
barnyard manure. Besides, it is better to furnish 
the soil with the elements out of which the plant can 
manufacture its own food than furnish it with ready- 
prepared material. They know what they want better 
than man, and if it is not ready at hand they manu- 
facture it. As is said in a preceding chapter, a plant 
and the elements in the soil constitute a perfect chem- 



234 The Primer of Irrigation. 

ical laboratory, and any attempt to interfere with 
nature is apt to "boggle" the creative power of the 
plant. It does not want help ; it must have material. 

For the purposes of irrigation the land should be 
level and slightly elevated to permit the flow of water. 
Eather than flood the ground, as is a common practice, 
it would be better to run a number of close furrows 
and then turn the earth over as soon as the water 
stops running. This will moisten the ground and put 
it in better condition; moreover, it will give infiltra- 
tion and capillary action a chance to operate and create 
moisture. 

The salads and radishes require a good supply of 
water and this may be given them by small furrow irri- 
gation and hoeing or cultivating over, or the rows may 
be sprinkled. If sprinkling is begun it must be con- 
tinued, for the roots will come up near the surface for 
the moisture. These plants, however, are short-lived; 
a few weeks and they are ready to harvest. 

Sub-irrigation is better adapted to celery than any 
other system. With rows of tiling ten or twelve feet 
apart, or less, any number of plants can be grown on 
an acre. By planting close, a few inches apart, and 
irrigated plentifully they are self-blanching, though to 
reap all the benefit of garden culture the old way of 
planting in furrows and drawing the earth up around 
the plant is the better method where flavor is desired. 
If the celery patch is small, a circular or cylindrical 
shade of cardboard or straw matting may be put around 
the plant. Lettuce is treated in this way to make it 
grow up long and blanched, which gives the well- 
known "salade Eomaine." 

Beans and peas are deep-rooters, the former grow- 
ing deeper than the latter. Both love a sandy loam and 
may be planted in drills, the rows about twenty inches 
or three feet apart. If the soil is dry they should be 



Irrigation of Profitable Plants. 235 

irrigated between the rows when the first true leaves 
appear, and at least twice more before the flowers ap- 
pear, at which period they should receive a plentiful 
supply of moisture. Once a week is not too often for 
irrigating these and all other leguminous plants. 

Tomatoes may be well soaked when young and 
then left to themselves, giving them about three irri- 
gations at regular intervals until the fruit sets. Too 
much water will cause them to run to vines, and, 
moreover, cause rot. Where there is any rainfall dur- 
ing the period of growth after the first irrigation, cul- 
tivate constantly and suspend water applications. 

Melons and cucumbers require w^armth, and hence 
if the water be cold the plants will be set back, par- 
ticularly if young. Good soil moisture is all that is 
necessary with thorough cultivation, and when the 
vines cover the ground careful flooding will be bene- 
ficial. Keep the earth up around the plants and the 
water away from them, as they need plenty of air. 

In the case of cabbages and cauliflowers the young 
plants should be puddled in and this followed by a 
good furrow irrigation close to the plants, followed by 
cultivation, throwing the earth against the stalks. 
After the plants show signs of heading, irrigate in fur- 
rows between the rows and the next day or so culti- 
vate the moist ground over against the plant, or with- 
out touching it if possible. 

It would require a volume to detail all the plants 
useful as food that may be grown in the kitchen gar- 
den. The main object of this book is to give the out- 
lines of irrigation, and not how to plant, or specify 
varieties of plants. The rules to be observed are gen- 
eral, but in every case they may be adapted by using 
good judgment. Thus: Wlien the sun is hot, if irri- 
gation is necessary run the water in furrows, not so 
close to the plants as to wet the stalks or crown of 



436 The Primer of Irrigation. 

the roots, then by cultivation the moist ground may 
be thrown close enough to the plant roots to enable 
them to reach it. If the day is cloudy and no indica- 
tions of a hot sun, less care is required. Then it does 
not make any difference whether the plants are wet 
or not, but they must be hoed or the earth must be 
loosened around them to prevent hardening or baking, 
which is always detrimental in the case of every plant, 
whether hardy or tender. 

To ascertain whether there is moisture enough in 
the soil, do not wait for the plant to tell you by droop- 
ing or twisting its leaves. Then it may be ,too late 
and the plant will have stopped growing, or the sub- 
sequent crop will be poor. Bore or dig down into the 
soil say one foot, and if the earth feels damp, or will 
slightly pack in the hand when squeezed, there need 
be no immediate application of water. But if com- 
paratively dry, so that it will not soil a clean hand- 
kerchief, water must be applied, and the best way is 
to furrow the ground in small furrows and run the 
water in rills, cultivating as soon as possible; or if the 
plants are large, like sweet corn, cabbages, beets, par- 
snips, etc., cut a large furrow between the rows and 
run it full of water, permitting seepage, infiltration 
and capillary motion to carry it to the right place, the 
root zone. Whether it is doing its work properly can 
be ascertained by thrusting the hand down near the 
plant, the soil being supposed to be pulverized suffi- 
ciently to reach at least three or four inches down; if 
not, it must be made so. 

Nothing has been said about weeds, because the 
supposition is that no farmer will permit a weed to 
grow on his land. Two plants can not very well grow 
in the same place, and in the case of the weed it will 
destroy the plant as quickly as vice will a man of 
good morals. As the story goes: A man planted 



Irrigation of Profitable Plants. 237 

pumpkin seeds with his corn, but the corn grew so 
fast that it pulled up the pumpkin vines. The reader 
is at liberty to doubt this story, but the idea of it is 
to avoid trying to make two plants grow in the same 
spot. 



CHAPTER XXIL 

ORCHARDS, VINEYARDS AND SMALL FRUITS. 

If there is no water in the subsoil of an orchard, 
no ground water, or water table, as it is called, it will 
be advisable to create an artificial one. One great 
drawback in orchard cultivation in the arid and semi- 
arid regions is, that the moisture does not penetrate to 
a sufficient depth to enable the deep roots to derive 
any benefit therefrom. The consequence is that where 
the moisture occupies a shallow belt the small feeding 
roots are forced to come to the surface, or near enough 
to the surface to receive all the desiccating effects of 
a hot sun, and a dry atmosphere. As trees require 
their natural food as well as plants of the most suc- 
culent nature, it will be readily perceived that these 
surface roots will soon exhaust the nourishment they 
require and then the whole tree will feel the effects. 

The finer and more highly flavored the fruit the 
more care must be taken to see that it has the proper 
quality and amount of food elements. It requires the 
destruction of a vast quantity of roses to obtain one 
single ounce of attar of roses, and to perfect the flavor 
of a single peach the distillation in the laboratory of 
the soil must be enormous. Wlien it comes to one or 
several acres of luscious fruit, the quantity of elements 
necessary to perfect the fruit is simply incalculable. 

From this idea will naturally be derived two sug- 
gestions : Let nothing grow in an orchard but the 
trees bearing fruit; second, see to it that the soil has 
moisture down to a good depth, five or six feet, before 
venturing to set out the selected trees. 

It is sometimes customary to plant small fruits 
between the rows of fruit trees; some plant vegetables, 
strawberries, and even forage plants to occupy the 
ground and keep it busy while the fruit trees are grow- 

2S8 



Orchards, Vineyards and Small Fruits. 239 

ing and coining into bearing. Better have only one 
tree in its twenty or thirty feet square of well tilled 
vacant soil, than ten trees surrounded by stranger plants 
to eat out their substance. There is a very good rea- 
son for not mixing up plants in this manner, which 
is, not all plants require the same amount of mois- 
ture, some requiring more, others less. Now if the 
orchard is made a hodge podge of plants with differ- 
ent appetites, and requiring a different diet, how will 
it be possible to administer to each one according to 
its necessities? Some will be overfed, other underfed, 
with the result that none of them will be perfect or 
produce what is expected or hoped from them. The 
only case where a little crowding will be justified is 
in the case of peach trees. These come into bearing 
very young, in some localities under the most favorable 
circumstances two or three years after setting out, at 
which time the tree will be about five years old. As 
peach trees bear heavily when fostered carefully, they 
are short lived, and therefore, many fruit farmers plant 
young peach trees in the rows about fifteen feet from 
the bearing trees when the latter are in their third 
or fourth year of bearing, and when the old trees 
shown signs of degeneracy they are cut down and the 
younger trees left to bear the burden of production 
alone. There is no harm in thus maintaining the full 
vigor of a peach orchard, for the trees belong to the 
same family and require the same food for their main- 
tenance and practically the same quantity of irrigating 
water. 

So far as filling the soil with water is concerned, 
where there is an absence of ground water it is better to 
irrigate for a full year or season before setting out the 
young orchard trees. If the soil is carefully tilled 
and pulverized, just as if the orchard were in good 
bearing, the next season will find an orchard ready for 



840 The Primer of Irrigation. 

planting, and the process of growth will continue with- 
out any interruption and the applying of water be at- 
tended with less waste. 

If there is ground water in plenty and within six 
or eight feet of the surface it is liable to come nearer 
by fresh applications of water and trench upon the 
root zone, thus destroying the trees. This will soon 
appear in evidence by the top limbs drying up or dy- 
ing. It should be always borne in mind that generally 
there is as much of the plant under the ground as 
above it. Nothing but the tap root bores its way 
straight down; the rootlets and feeders spread out in 
every direction, something in the shape of a fan. Hence 
if some of these roots are injured the tops of the trees 
will also suffer. Metaphorically, the roots of every 
tree are its nerves,, which can not be interfered with 
without injuring some member of the tree. Eoot- 
pruning is often practiced when taken in connection 
with limb-pruning, but where good, strong roots are 
desired top- or limb-pruning is beneficial. But the 
roots alone can not be tampered with except at the 
expense of the tree. 

In the case, therefore, of too much ground water> 
or a liability to raising the water table, drainage tile 
should at once be put in at least five feet down, not 
in the middle of the rows, but comparatively near the 
trees, as far, perhaps, as they are buried underground. 
If arranged in this manner they will serve for drainage 
and also for sub-irrigation. The attention of the 
author has been called to cases where the subsoil was 
originally dry down for a hundred feet, and there was 
never a thought of the possibility of a water table ever 
forming. But it did, and by constant irrigations the 
water found an impervious strata and then began to 
collect and form a water table, which required drainage 



Orchards, Vineyards and Small Fruits, ^41 

in the course of less than five years from the time of 
the establishment of the orchard. 

Furrow irrigation is the most suitable, however, 
in most orchards, and it has always proved adequate to 
produce excellent crops. But the furrows must run 
deep and the after cultivation must be thorough or 
evaporation will injure the plants. Long furrows are 
to be avoided, and the water should never be "rushed" 
through them. Short furrows and a slow flow will 
tend to soak far enough down into the soil to reach the 
roots and far enough beyond that to enable the capil- 
lary motion to have a supply to carry up into the ex- 
hausted portions of the root zone. Three good irriga- 
tions during the season are ample and more than enough 
where there are ten inches of rainfall and a supply of 
underground water to draw upon. This can be ac- 
quired by fall and winter irrigation; that is, running 
the water into, not upon, the land after the leaves have 
fallen and following it up in the fall by deep plowing, 
cultivation and harrowing. Some dig a basin around 
their apple trees in the fall, and when freezing weather 
comes fill the basin with water and let it freeze. They 
say it prevents the tree from blossoming too early in 
the spring. Others mulch around their trees heavily 
with manure to keep out the frost. There is no way to 
reconcile these contradictory practices except by giving 
the soil moisture in the fall and winter and thorough 
cultivation. The earth will be a sufficient mulch and 
the moisture will freeze soon enough. But all the regu- 
lations in the world can not prevent the tree from fol- 
lowing the course of nature. After the crop is gath- 
ered and the leaves departed, the tree still goes on 
preparing for the coming spring. It is busily engaged 
in ripening its wood and storing up food for the new 
buds, and ice around its trunk will not stop it, nor 



242 The Primer of Irrigation. 

will a heavy mulch of manure prevent it from freezing 
unless the entire tree is enveloped in the mulch. 

Constant cultivation and the stirring or mixing 
together of the food essentials are what the tree needs 
and demands, and when this is done and the compote 
of organic and inorganic elements mixed with water 
all that man can do is done. Care should be exercised 
in irrigating when the trees are in bud, for if the water 
reaches them while in flower the blossoms will fall off, 
and the same is the case when water is turned on 
when the fruit is ripening. In the case of apples, 
however, the fruit may be made to attain large propor- 
tions by copious applications of water, although in gen- 
eral the application of water at the time of ripening 
tends to loosen the stems and cause the fruit to drop off 
before fully ripe. 

THE VINEYARD. 

The plan adopted by the vineyardists of France to 
destroy the pest of the phylloxera demonstrated that 
the vine is no tender plant which requires nursing. 
The vineyards were flooded and the vines kept under 
water for a longer or shorter period until tests showed 
that the larvae of the pest was extinct. The conver- 
sion of the vine into an aquatic plant did not harm 
its vitality, although a crop was lost through over- 
much water. 

There is a hint in this result worth remembering. 
Too much water, no crop. It should be considered 
as an axiom for every irrigator to carefully observe. 

The affliction of every vineyard is an excess of 
water. Grapes love a warm soil, but too much irri- 
gation, particularly on the surface, renders the soil 
cold through evaporation. Wherever there is evapora- 
tion cold is produced and the more rapid the evapora- 
tion the greater the cold and the stoppage of growth. 

During the first two years of the growth of a 



Orchards, Vineyards and Small Fruits, 243 

grapevine the greatest care must be bestowed upon it, 
particularly the second year, for it is during the sec- 
ond year that the cane which will bear the fruit is 
formed. Cultivation and irrigation are the main 
causes of a good crop; irrigate every two weeks if the 
soil shows signs of dryness. Like all fruit moisture in 
the soil is absolutely necessary, and if this is supplied 
by irrigation it must be followed immediately by 
thorough cultivation to reduce evaporation to a mini- 
mum and prevent the soil from becoming cold. 

If there is ground water there should be drainage, 
the same as in the orchard, the tiles of which may be 
used for sub-irrigation, and they should always be used 
for that double purpose when needed. In the latter case 
if the moisture in the soil is sufficient no irrigation is 
necessary until the fruit is forming. As in the case of 
orchard fruits, never irrigate when the vine is in 
flower. The vine roots penetrate to a great depth in the 
soil, and therefore deep plowing and cultivation is advis- 
able. If drainage tile are laid for drainage and sub- 
irrigation they should be laid near the main roots, so as 
fco carry off the excess of water from irrigation on 
the surface. Where surface irrigation is practiced it 
should be the furrow system between the rows and 
deep. The water will sink deep and reach the roots, 
whereas by mere surface applications the thread roots 
are liable to rot and cause damage. The usual practice 
is to irrigate when the grapes are about to ripen, when 
they will fill out and ripen more evenly. In the finer 
varieties of grapes, like the high-flavored ones, the 
Concord, Muscat of Alexandria, etc., water should be 
applied more sparingly than when wine is to be manu- 
factured. Fall and winter irrigation is the same as 
in the orchard^ but care must be taken not to soak 
the soil by applying too much water unless it can be 
drained off. 



244 The Primer of Irrigation. 

SMALL FRUITS. 

By small fruits are meant blackberries, raspber- 
ries, currants, gooseberries, etc., and the ground vines, 
such as strawberries. 

The bush fruits require a rich and highly-manured 
soil to attain perfection, although they will grow in any 
soil capable of growing corn. 

They require plenty of water, for the soil must be 
maintained in a uniformly moist condition. When 
blossoming, irrigation should be suspended, but re- 
newed every week or ten days when the fruit has set. 
It is usual to irrigate immediately after one crop has 
been gathered, the water hurrying another picking to 
maturity. 

The tendency to mildew makes small-fruit growing 
somewhat of a risk, but by careful pruning to let in the 
light and the air this tendency will be checked and 
ithe berries ripen bright and clean. 

Constant cultivation, fall and winter irrigation, 
as in the case of other fruits, are essential, and when 
drainage is adopted the perils of small-fruit growing 
will be reduced to a minimum. 

Strawberry culture may be carried on several 
months during the summer in the humid regions and 
all the year 'round in the arid or semi-tropical regions 
of the country. 

It is a self-perpetuating plant, propagating itself 
by means of runners, which take root at the slightest 
provocation. To foster this habit and obtain fresh 
plants for a continuing crop, the soil must be kept in 
a fine, pulverized condition, with plenty of moisture 
near the surface. The plants may be puddled in a 
small ridge, hollowed to receive a rill of water, and 
when the runners creep over the ridge into the paths 
a little water run in will aid them to take root. The 
direction of their growth may be easily controlled, and 



Orchards, Vineyards and Small Fruits. 245 

when they have taken root they should be cut loose 
from the parent stem. The matted bed system is the 
best for irrigation, for the leaves cover and shade the 
ground and prevent evaporation. When the fruit is 
ripening care should be taken when irrigating or run- 
ning water on the beds, not to wet the fruit, a con- 
tingency which tends to rot them before they can be- 
come ripe. 

FORAGE AND FODDER CROPS. 

These crops require abundance of water and quick 
growth. There are many varieties of forage plants, 
but alfalfa and com will always be the standards — 
corn for the silo and alfalfa for hay. The latter will 
produce from three to five full crops a year if well irri- 
gated, and that irrigation is by flooding in large fields 
as well as small ones. Some alfalfa growers do not 
hesitate to turn in horses, cows, sheep and hogs in 
their order to pasture the alfalfa patch when the crop 
is removed. Then water is run on the field and per- 
mitted to stand a week before being run off. After 
that nothing more is done until the crop is ready to 
again cut. 

Others will not permit pasturage on the alfalfa 
field, but after harvesting it flood the soil with water 
and again several times before harvesting again. The 
rule is different in the arid and semi-arid regions, 
more water and less care being given it, but it grows 
right along without being disturbed by inattention. 

All forage plants, whether corn or the grasses, 
require flooding at various periods of their growth. 
The first time after planting, when up three inches, 
when half grown and about the ripening period. Then 
after the harvest the ground should be well soaked if 
it is desirable to use the land for pasturage, the after- 
harvest irrigation producing a good growth of succu- 
lent grazing. Fall and winter irrigation are unneces- 
sary unless for the purpose of keeping the soil in a 
moist condition, which is always advisable in the arid 
and semi-arid regions. 



246 The Primer of Irrigation, 

APPENDIX. 

This appendix contains land, water, and power 
measurements, and other information for reference by 
the reader. 

LAND OR SQUARE MEASURE. 

144 spuare inches equal .... 1 square foot. 

9 square feet equal 1 square yard. 

30^ square yards equal ... 1 square rod. 

40 square rods equal 1 rood. 

4 roods equal 1 acre. 

surveyors' measure. 

7.92 inches equal 1 link. 

25 links equal 1 rod. 

4 rods equal 1 chain. 

10 square chains equal .... 1 acre. 

640 acres equal 1 square mile. 

CUBIC MEASURE. 

1,728 cubic inches equal . . 1 cubic foot. 

27 cubic feet equal 1 cubic yard. 

128 cubic feet equal 1 cord of wood. 

40 cubic feet equal 1 ton (shipping). 

2,150.42 cubic inches equal. 1 standard bushel. 
268.8 cubic inches equal. . . 1 standard gallon. 

LIQUID OR WINE MEASURE. 

4 gills equal 1 pint. 

2 pints equal 1 quart. 

4 quarts equal 1 gallon. 

311/2 gallons equal 1 barrel. 

2 barrels equal 1 hogshead. 

DRY MEASURE. 

2 pints equal 1 quart. 

5 quarts equal 1 peck. 

i pecks equal 1 bushel. 

36 bushels equal 1 chaldron. 



Appendix. 24T 

AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT. 

6 drams equal 1 ounce. 

16 ounces equal 1 pound. 

25 pounds equal 1 quarter. 

4 quarters equal 1 hundred weight. 

20 hundredweights equal. . . 1 ton. 

THOY WEIGHT. 

(For Precious Metals and Jewels.) 

1 pennyweight. 24 grains equal 

1 ounce. 20 pennyweights equal... ► 
1 pound. 12 ounces equal 



APOTHECAEIES WEIGHT. 

20 grains equal 1 scruple. 

3 scruples equal 1 dram. 

8 drams equal 1 ounce. 

12 ounces equal 1 pound. 

METRIC SYSTEM OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 

The nickel iive-cent piece is the key to the metric 
system of linear measures and weights. The diameter 
of the nickel is two centimeters exactly, and its weight 
five grammes. Five of them placed in a row give the 
length of the decimeter, and two of them will weigh 
a dekagram. As the kiloliter is a cubic meter, the key 
to the measure of length is also the key to the meas* 
ure of capacity. 

The Metric System ■was legalized In the United States on July 28, 1866, when Congress enacted as 
tbUovs : 

• ' The tables In the aohedule hereto annexed shall be recognized In the construction of contracts, 
and In all legal proceedings, as establishing. In terms of the weights and measures now in use in the 
United Btfttes, the equivalents of the weights and measures expressed therein in terms of the metric. 
system, and the tables may lawfully be used for computing, determining, and expressing In custom- 
liry weights and measures toe weights and measures of the metric system. • • 

TheioUowlng are the tables annexed to the above; 



248 



The Primer of Irrigation. 



Mkasures of Lemqte. 



Metric Denominations and Values. 


F<iulvalent3 In Denominations In Use. 




MvTlametre 

Kilometre - ~ 

Hectometre ....~ ..,„.„..„„ 

Pekametre „_„„.._._- ™ 

Metre — _ 

Decimetre „......._..~™.. 

Centimetre „...«,.™... 

Millimetre - 


10,000 metres. 

1,000 metres. 

100 metres. 

10 metres 

1 metre. 

1-10 of a metre. 

1-100 of a metre. 

1-lOOOofaraetre. 


6. 2137 miles. 

0.62137 mile, or 3,280 feet 10 Inches, 
328 feet 1 Incli. 
393.7 Inches. 
39.37 inche.s. 

3.937 Inches. 

0.3937 inch. 

0.0394 Inch. 





Mkasures of Surfack, 



Metric Donomlnatlons and Values. 



Equivalents In Denominations In Use. 



Hectare 10,000 square metres. 

Are _ 1.. 100 square metres. 

Cputare.„_ 1 square metre. 



2.471 acres. 
119.6 square yards. 
1,550 square Inches 



Mkasures of Capacity. 



Mktbic Denominations and Valuks. 


ECUIVALEVTS IN DENOMINaTIO.VS IN USK. 


Ifames. 


Num- 
ber of 
Litres. 


Cubic Measure. 


Dry Measure. 


Liquid or Wine Mea:3ure. 




1-000 

100 

10 

1 

1-10 

1-100 

1-1000 


1 cubic metre-...- 

1-10 of a cubic metro 

10 cubic decimetres- 


1 308 cubic yards 


204.17 gallons. 
26.417 gallons. 
2.6417 gallons. 
1. 0567 quarts. 
0.845 gill. 
0.338 fluid ounce. 


Hectolitre-..- 

Dekalitre 

Litre 


2 bush, and 3. 35 pecks... 

9. 08 quarts «. 

0.908 quart. 

6. 1022 cubic Inches 

0.6102 cubic inch.. „-,... 


Pecllltre 


1-10 of a cubic decimetre. 


Centilitre 


MlUllltre 




OCl cubic Inch ........ 


0. 27 fluid dram. 











WRTGirra. 



Metric Denominations and Values. 



Miller or tonneaa... 

Quintal .., 

Myriagram- .... 

Kuogram or kilo ... 

Hectogram — ~ 

Dekagram - 

Gram „_...—.... 

.Decigram „ 

XlentTgram — -. 

jtfllllgram — .. 



Number 

of 
Grama. 



1,000,000 

100.000 

10,000 

1,000 

100 

10 

1 

1-10 

1-100 

1-1000 



Weight of what Quantity of Water 
at Maximum Density. 



1 cubic metre-.- 

1 hectolitre 

10 litres 

1 litre...- 

1 decilitre - 

10 cubic centimetres. 

1 cubic centimetre 

1-10 of a cubic centimetre, 

10 cubic millimetres 

1 cubic millimetre 



Equivalentts in D»» 
nominations in Usl 



Avoirdupois Weight 



2204. 6 
220. 46 

22.046 
2. 2046 
3. 5274 
0.3527 

16.432 
1.6432 
0.1643 
0.0154 



pounds. 

pounda 

pounds. 

pounds. 

ounces. 

ounce. 

grains, 

grain."!, 

grain. 



Practical Measurements 24S 



PRACTICAL MEASUREMENTS. 
•Tp Ascertain" the Weight of Cattle — Measure the girt 

close behind the shoulder, and the length from the' fore part of the Shoulder-bfade 
alpng the back to the bone at the tail, which is in a vertical line with the buttock, 
i-boih m feet. Multiply the square of the girt, expressed in feet, by ten times the 
length, and divide the {>roduct by three; the quotrent is the weight, nearly, of the 
lore quarters, in pounds avoirdupois. It is to be observed, however, that in very fat 
cattle the fore quarters \iqll be about one-twentieth more, while in those in a very 
lean state they will be one-t^ventieth less than the weight obtained by the rule. 

Rules for Measuring Corn in Crib, Vegetables, etc., 

AND Hay in Mow— This rule will apply to a crib of any size or kind. Two cubic 
feet of good, sound, dry corn in the ear will make a bushel of shelled corn. To get, 
then, the quantity of shelled corn in 'a crib of corn in the ear, measure the length, 
©readth and height of the crib, inside the rail; multiply the length by the, breadth 
and the product by the height, then divide the product by two, and you have the 
t»U5rtber of bushels of shelled corn- in the crib. 

yo find the number of bushels of apples, potatoes, etc., in a bin, multiply the 
length, breadth and thickness together, and this product by eight, and point off one 
^gtire in the product for decimals. ' 

r T© find the amount of hay in a mow, allow 512 cubic feet for a ton, and it will 
'ijonie out very generally correct. . ^ ., ' 

To Measure Bulk Wood— To measure a 6ile of wodd 

multiply the length by the width, and that product by the height, which will give 
the number of cubic feet. Divide that product by 128, ^and the quotient will be the 
nuijiber of cords. A stai?dard cord of wood, it must be remembered, is four feet 
thick; that is, the wood must be four feet long.. Farmers usually go by surface 
4neasure, calling a pile of stove wood eight feet long and four feet high a cord. Un- 
<fer such circumstances thirty-two feet would be the divisor. 

How TO Measure a Tree — V'ery many persons, when 

looking for a stick of timber, are at a loss to estimate either the height of the*tree or 
the length of timber it will cut. The following rule will enable any one to approxi. 
mate nearly to the length from the ground to any position desired on the tree: Take 
a stake, say six feet in length, and place it against the tree you wish to measure. 
Then step back some rods, twenty or more if ybu can, from which to do the meas- 
uring. At this point a light pole and a measuring rule are required. The pold is 
i-aised between the eyes and the tree, and the rule is brought into position against 
the pole. Then by sighting and observing what length of the rule is required to 
cover the stake at the tree, and what the entire tree, dividing the, latter length by 
the formet/and multiplying by the number of feet the stake is long, you reach the 
approximate height of the tre*^. For example, if the stake at the tree be six feet 
above ground and one incb ' n your rule corresponds exactly with this, and if then 
the entire height of the tre' corresponds exactly with say nine inches on the rule, 
Jthis would show the tree to possess a full height of fifty-four feet. In practice i'. 
will thus be found an easy matter to learn the approximate height of-any tree, 
building, or other such object. 

To Measure Casks or Barrels — 'Finc^ inean diameter by 

adding to head diarneter two-thirds (if staves are but slightly curved, three-fifths) of 
<liflrerence between iiead and bung diameters, and dividing by two. Multiply square 
of mean diameter in inches by .7854, and the product by the height of the cask in 
4nches. The result will be the number of cubic inches. Divide by 231 for standard 
or wine gallons, and by 282 for beer gallons. 

Grain Measure — To find the capacity of a biri or wagon- 
bed, multiply the cubic feet by .8 (tenths). For great accuracy, add Yyoi a bushel 
for every too cubic feet. To f\nd the cubic feet, multiply the length, width and 
qepthjogether. 



250 



The Primer of Irrigation. 



To Measure Corn or Similar Commodity on A FtooK 
— Pile up the commodity in the form of a cone; find the diameter 
in feet- .multiply the square of the diameter by 7854, and the 
product by one-third the height of the cone in feet;'from this last 
product deduct one-fifth of 'tself, or multiply it by .S03564, and 
the result will be the number of. bushelis. 

CAPACITY OF CYLINDRICAL CISTERNS OR TANKS FOB 

EACH FOOT OF DEPTH (UNITED STATES GALLONS) 

FROM TWO TO FORTY FEET IN DIAMETER. 







CAPACITY 


OP DRAIN-PIPE 


• 








Gallons Per Minute. 


SiZB OP 


.5 1 






«^ 

d S 


2 1 


7^ .** 
.i i 








>^^ 




P. 


p> 




-I 


^l 


^ S. 


3-inch. 


21 


30 


42 


52 


60 


'74 


85 


104 


4 " 


36 


52 


76 


92 


108 


fl32 


148 


184 


6 " 


84. 


120 


569 


206 


240 


204 


338 


414 


9 " 


232 


330 


470 


570 


660 


810 


930 


1140 


12 " 


470 


<J80 


960 


1160 


1360 


1670 


1920 


2350 


15 " 


880 


1180 


1«80 


2040 


2370 


2920 


3340 


4100 


18 •' 


1300 


1850 


2630 


3200 


3740 


4oOO 


5270 


6470 


20 •« 


1760 


2450 


3450 


4180 


4860 


5080 


6S50 


8410 



Diameter 
in feet 


Gallons 


Pounds 


Diameter 
in feet 


Gallon^ 


Pounds 


2.0 


23.5 


196 


9.0 


475.9 


3.963 


2.5 


36.7 


306 


9.5 


530.2 


4,421 


3.0 


529 


441 


10.0 


587.5 


4.899 


3.5 


72.0 


600 


ILO 


710.9 


5.928 


4.0. 


94.0 


784 


12.0 


846.0 


7.054 


4:5 


119.0 


992 


13.0 


992.9 


8.230 


5.0 


146.9. 


1.225 


14.Q 


1.151.5 


9,602 


5.5 


J 77.7 


1.482 


15.0 


1.321.9* 


11.023 


6.0 


211.5 


1,764 


20.0 


2.350.1 


19.596 


6.5 


248.2 


2-.070 


25.0 


3.672.0 • 


30.620 


7.0 


287.9 


2.401 


30.0 


5.287.7 


44.093 


7.5 


330.5 


2,756 


35.0 


7.197.1 


60.016 


8.0 


376.0 


3.135 


40.0 


9.400.3 


78.388 i 


8.5 


424.5 


3.540 









Practical Measurements. 



S51 



For square or rectangular tanks, multiply the 
length and breadth and depth together to get cubic 
feet, then multiply by 1,728 to get cubic inches, and 
this product, divided by 231, the number of cubic 
inches in a gallon, will give the number of gallons. 



QUANTITY OF WATER DISCHARGED PER STROKE BY A 
SINGLE ACTING PUMP. 

The first column of figures indicates the diameter 
of the pump cylinder in inches. The second column 
gives the area of the cylinder. 



0« 


Area 
Square 
Incbes 








LENGTH OP STROKE IN 


INCHES 




'=•, 


a". 


2 


3 


4 


5 


1 6 


I 7 


1 8 


1 9 1 10 i 12 


1 14 


1 1*' 


.S"?, 






















Ou 










Capacity per Stroke in Gallons 






% 


.196 


.0017 


.0026 


.0034 


004 


.005 


006 


.007 


.008 


.009 


.010 


.012 


ToS 


1 


.785 


.0070 


.0100 


.0140 


017 


.020 


.024 


.027 


.031 


.034 


.041 


.048 


.061 


\M 


1.227 


.0100 


.0160 


.0210 


.027 


.032 


• .037 


.042 


.048 


.053 


.064 


.074 


.080 


IH 


1485 


.0130 


.0190 


.0250 


.032 


.038 


.014 


.051 


.058 


.064 


,077 


.089 


,096 


15< 


1.767 


.0150 


.0230 


.0310 


038 


.046 


.063 


.061 


,069 


.077 


.092 


.107 


.ll.^ 


i^ 


2405 


.0210 


.0310 


.0410 


.062 


.063 


.073 


.083 


.094 


,104 


,125 


,146 


,156 


2 


3.142 


.0270 


.0410 


.0540 


.068 


.082 


.095 


.109 


.122 


.136 


.163 


.190 


,204 


"i-M 


8.976 


.0340 


.0510 


.0690 


.086 


.103 


.120 


.138 


.155 


,172 


,206 


.241 


,2i» 


TA 


4.909 


.0420 


. .0640 


.0850 


.106 


.128 


.149 


.170 


.191 


,213 


.255 


.297 


«319 


2^ 


6.940 


.0510 


.0770 


.1030 


.128 


.154 


.180 


.206 


,231 


.257 


.308 


.360 


,385 


8 


7.069 


.0610 


• .0920 


.1220 


.153 


.184 


.214 


.245 


.275 


,306 


.367 


.428 


.459 


^K 


a 296 


.0720 


.lOSO 


.1430 


.180 


.215 


.251 


.287 


.323 


.359 


,431 


.503 


.638 


2^ 


11046 


.0950 


.1430 


.1910 


.239 


.287 


.334 


.382 


.430 


.478 


.573 


.669 


.717 


4 


. 12 666 


.1090 


.1630 


.2170 


.272 


.326 


.381 


.435 


.490 


.544 


.653 


.761 


.81& 


4V 


14 186 


.1230 


.1840 


.2450 


.307 


.868 


.430 


.491 


.552 


.614 


.737 


.860 


-921 


t^ 


17 721 


.1530 


.2300 


.3070 


.388 


.400 


.537 


.614 


.690 


.767 


.920 


1.073 


1.150 


6 


19.636 


.1700 


.2550 


.3400 


.425 


.510 


.595 


.680 


.765 


.850 


1.020 


1.190 


1.275 


W» 


21.648 


.1870 


.2810 


.3750 


.463 


.562 


.656 


.750 


843 


,937 


1 124 


1.311 


1.405 


6K 


25 967 


.2250 


.3370 


.4500 


.562 


.674 


.787 


.899 


1.011 


1 124 


1.348 


1.573 


1.686 


8 


28 274 


.2450 


.3670 


.4900 


.612 


.734 


.857 


.979 


1.101 


1 -"24 


1.469 


1.713 


1.836 


^M 


30.680 


.2660 


.3980 


.6310 


.664 


.797 


.930 


1.062 


1.195 


1.3J8 


1593 


1.859 


1.992 


§^ 


35 785 


.31110 


.4650 


.6200 


.774 


.929 


1084 


1.239 


1394 


1.549 


1.858 


2168 


2.323 


7 


38 485 


.3330 


.5000 


.6660 


.833 


1.000 


1.166 


1.333 


1.499 


1666 


1999 


2332 


2 499 


L'f 


'il4.179 


.3830 


.5740 


.7650 


.956 


1.148 


1.339 


1.530 


1.721 


1.913 


2 295 


2678 


2.869 


2^ 


47.173 


.4080 


.6120 


.8170 


1.021 


1.225 


1.429 


1.633 


1837 


2042 


2 450 


2 858 


3063 


8 


50 266 


.4360 


.6530 


.8700 


1.088 


1306 


1.523 


1.741 


1.958 


2176 


2611 


3046 


3264 


^^ 


56.745 


.4900 


.7350 


.9800 


1.225 


1.470 


1.715 


1.960 


2205 


2,450 


2940 


3430 


3.675 


9 


63 617 


.5510 


.8260 


1.1010 


1.377 


1.652 


1928 


2203 


2478 


2754 


3.305 


3.856 


4.131 


,2'^ 


70.882 


.ffl20 


.9180 


1.2240 


1.530 


1.830 


2.142 


2 448 


2 754 


3.060 


3 672 


4 284 


4590 


10 


78.540 


,6800 


1.0200 


1.3600 


1.700 


2 040 


2.380 


2 720 


3060 


3 400 


4.080 


4.760 


5.100 


11 


95.033 


.8230 


12340 


1.6450 


2.057 


2.464 


2.879 


3.291 


3.726 


4.114 


4.937 


6.760 


6171 


12 


113.098 


.9790 


1.4680 


1.9580 


2 448 


2938 


3.422 


3 917 


4,406 


4.896 


5.875 


6854 


7 344 



For strokes, two, three or any number of times the lengths given above, the capacities may 
B* found by simply multiplying the number of times, into the quantities per stroke given above^ j 
poubling the diameter of pipe ocxxJinder increases its capacit^JPHtltmes, - 



252 



The Primer of Irrigation. 



QUANTiTV OP WATER OICHARGEO AND POWER fiCQUIReO 

At different elevations based on a Pump efficietjcy of 50 per cent. 





J4H.P. 


IH.P. 


8tt.P. 


5H.P. 


7H-P. 


10 H. P. 


15 H. P. 


20 H. P. 


30 H. P. 


40 H. P. 


» 

"50 H.^ 


Ufttd 
; fe«t 
























GiU.LONS PER MimJTB 




10 


100 


209 


aw 


lono 


1400 


2000 


3000 


4000 


6000 


8000 


10000 


29 


60 


lOO 


300 


600 


700 


1000 


1500 


2000 


3000 


4000 


5O0O 


80 


33 


66 


200 


333 


466 


666 


1000 


1333 


2000 


2666 


3333 


40 


25 


60 


150 


250 


850 


500 


750 


1000 


1500 


2000 


2500 


60 


ao 


40 


120 


200 


280 


400 


600 


800 


1200 


1600 


2000 


60 


10 


83 


100 


166 


233 


833 


600 


666 


1000 


133i 


1666 


70 


14 


23 


85 


140 


200 


286 


420 


672 


8iO 


1144 


1428 


80 


13 


25 


75 


125 


175 


250 


875 


600 


750 


1000 


1250 


90 




22 


66 


111 


155 


222 


833 


444 


666 


888 


nil 


100 




20 


60 


100 


140 


200 


800 


400- 


600 


800 


1000 


125 






48 
40 
Si 
80 


80 
66 
67 
60 
40 
83 
28 


112 
93 

80 
70 
56 
46 
40 


IKO 
133 
114 
100 
80 
66 
67 


210 
200 
171 
150 
120 
100 
85 


320 
26© 
228 
200 
160 
133 
114 


480 
40O 
843 
800 
240 
200 
171 


640 
532 
456 
400 
820 
266 
223 


800 


150 






666 


175 






572 


aoo 






600 


250 






400 


800 








333 


860 








286 













Doubling the lift or quantity of water handled also doubles power required; t.. e, power r9 
<IQired varies directly a* either lift or quantity. 



HEAD OF WATER IN PEET ANJQTHE 

EQUIVALENT PRESSURE 

IN POUNDS 



Feet 


Lbs. 


Feet 


Lbs. 


Feet 


Lbs. 


Head 


Press. 


Head 


Press. 


Head 


Press. 


a 


2.17 


70 


30.3 


200- 


86 


JO 


4.33 


80 


31.6 


250 


108.2 


15 


0.00 


90 


39 


.^00 


129.9 


20 


8.66 


100 


43.3 


350 


151.5 


25 


10.83 


110 


47.6 


400 


173.2 


30 


12 99 


120 


52.0 


60-1 


216.6 


35 


T5.10 


130 


r.6 3 


<i00 


2.'-.9 8 


40 


17.32 


140 


00.6 


700 


303.1 


45 


19.49 


i.->o 


&-..0 


800 


nin.4 


SO 


21.6.1 


IfiO 


<i9.2 


O'JO 


389 7 


. €0 


2G.09 


180 


78,0 


looa 


■XZUl 



PRESSURE OP WATER IN POUNDS 

AND^HE EQUIVALENT HEAD 

IN FEET 



Lbs. 


Feet 


Lbs. 


Feel 1 


Lbs. 


Feet 


Press. 


Head 


Press. 


Head ; 


Press. 


Head 


r. 


11.5 


TO 


161.6 ' 


180 


415.6 


10 


■r, 


80 


184.7 i 


190 


438.9 


15 


31. C 


90 


207.8 i 


200 


461.7 


20 


4(1 2 


100 


230.9 


225 


519.5 


25 




110 


2r>3.9 1 


250 


577.2 


30 


69.3 


120 


277.0; 


275 


643.0 


35 


80. H 


130 


300.1 ! 


300 


692.7 


40 


92.3 


HO 


323.2 


325 


7504 


45 


103.9 


I.tO 


.346.3 


350 


808.1 


50 


H.->.4 


100 


30,9.4 


400 


922.0 


CO 


138.0 


170 


392.5 


500 


U54.I 



,TASLE FOR OPEN WEI R MEASUREM ENT 

Oiving Cubic Keet of 'water per minute, that willilowover an open Weir one inch wide^nd from 

' -'A to iO'A inches deep. ~^ 



INCBBS. 


'A 


y. 


.00 


,14 


is 


% 


Va 





.00 


.01 


.05 


,1',. 


.26 


.32 


1 


.40 


.47 


,55 


.64 


.73 


.82 


.92 


1.02 


2 


1.13 , 
2 07 ' 


1.23 


135 


1.46 


1.58 


170 


1,82 


1 95 


3 


2 21 


2 34 


248 


2 61 


2 7r. 


2.90 


3 05 


4 


320 


3 35 


3.50 


3.66 


3.81 


3 97 


4 14 


4 30 


5 


4.47 


464 


4 81 


4 98 


615 


5;?3 


5 51 


5 69 


6 


5 87 


OOfi 


0.2.=. 


6 44 


6 62 


C82 


7 01 


7.21 


7 


7 40 


7.60 


7.80 


8 01 


8 21 


8 42 


863 


8.83 


6 


9 05 


9 26 


9 47 


9 09 


991 


10 13 


10 35 


10 57 


9 


10 80 


1102 


1125 


1148 


1171 


11 91 


12.17 


12.41 


10 


12 64 


12.88 


13 12 


1(30 


13 60 


1:? 85 


14 09 


14.34 


11 


14 59 


14 84 


15 09 


1534 


15 59 


15.85 


16.11 


16.35 


12 


16 62 


16.88 


17 l.-> 


1741 


17 67 


17 91 


18 21 


18 47 


13 


18 74 


19.01 


19 29 


19 50 


1984 


20 11 


20.39 


20 67 


14 


20 95 


21.23 


21 51 


21 80 


22.03 


22 37 


22.05 


22 94 


15 


23.23 


23 52 


23.82 


24 11 


24 40 


24.70 


25 00 


25 3C 


16 


25.60 


25 90 


20 20 


26 50 


26.80 


27 11 


27 42 


27 72 


17 


28.03 


28 34 


28 65 


28 97 


29 28 


29 •'•'9 


29 91 


30.22 


18 


80 51 


80.80 


31.18 


31 ,50 


31 82 


32 ).'. 


.32.47 


3>80 


19 


8312 


3145 


33. -S 


34 11 


rtl 41 


34 77 


35 10 


35 44 


20 


35,77 


36.11 


36 45 


36.74 


37 12 


37 46 


3780 


38 15 



In making Weir measurements, place a board or i>lank in the stream at the point so lliat a 

Sond will form above it, A rectangular notch is cut in it large enough so that all the water will 
ow over the notch. The length of the notch should be from two to four times its depth. The 
edge.s should be beveled to slope outward in the direction of the flow of the water. In the pond 
about six feet above the Weir a stake is driven so that its top is precisely level with the bottom 
of the notch, and at some convenient point for measuring. The depth of the water flowing over 
the Weir may then be ascertained by an ordinary rule, placed on top of the stake, measuring 
to tl?e surface of the water, end the quantity figured from the table above 



Hydraulic Information. 
IRRIGATION QUANTITY TABLES 



253 















1 


Gallons required lo 


Amount cf water required to cover 
one acre to given depths. 


Second Feet reduced to Gallons and 
Acre Feet 


cover a given num- 
ber of acres to • 
depth of one foot 
















(Acre fool.) 


A '2 


1 " .5 

3c.g - n d 








uS" 




a 

3 




:pth in i 
and feet 
ere inch 
dacre f( 


bic feet 
:ond fee 
nlained i 
e acre tc 
pthsgive 
St colum 


a 




a, 

B 



0. 

S«i 

3 

i 2 




S 5 o 




•1 
e. 
o- 


OSS.5 


= j; o c 4" i; 


CO 

O 


W 


oi 


O&o 


<&o 


u iT, ** 




lin. 


3630 


27154 


K 


112.2 


80790 


.2479 


I 


325851 


2in. 


7260 


54309 


K 


2244 


161579 


.4959 


2 


651703 


3 in. 


10890 


81463 


K 


336.6 


242369 


;7438 


a 


977554 


4in. 


1-1520 


108617 


1 


448.8 


.3-23158 


.9917 


4 


1303406 


6in. 


18150 


135771 


ijf 


561.0 


403948 


12397 


5 


1629257 


6 in. 


•21780 


162926 


154 


67.^2 


484738 


14876 


6 


1955109 


7 in. 


2M10 


190080 


IK 


785.5 


555527 


17355 


7 


2280960 


Sin. 


29040 


21 7234 


2 


897.7 


646317 


19835 


8 


2606812 


9 in. 


32670 


244389 


2K 


11221 


807896 


2 4793 


9 


2932663 


10 in. 


36300 


271542 


3 


1346.5 


969475 


2 9752 


10 


3258515 


11 in. 


399.30 


298697 


4 


17953 


1292634 


3.9669 


15 


4887772 


1ft., 00 in. 


13560 


325851 


5 


2244.2 


1615792 


4 9586 


20 


6512029 


1ft.. 2 in. 


.50820 


380160 


6 


2693 


1938951 


5 9503 


25 


8146286 


I ft., 4iu. 


58080 


434469 


7 


3141.8 


2262109 


6.9421 


30 


9775544 


I ft.. 6 in. 


65340 


488777 


8 


3590.6 


2586268 


7 9338 


40 


13034058 


Ift, 8 in. 


72600 


543086 


9 


4039.5 


2908426 


89255 


60 


19551087 


I ft.. 10 in. 


79860 


597394 


10 


4488.3 


3231585 


9.9173 


80 


26068116 


2 ft., CO in. 


87120 


651703 


20 


8976.6 


6463170 


19.8345 


160 


52136232 



Onecubicfootof water per second (exact 7.48052 gallons), constant flow is known as the 
'"Second Foot." The "Acre Foot" is the quantity of water required to covtr one acre to a depth 
of one foot. 

MISCELLANEOUS HYDRAULIC INTORMATION, ETC. 

A common water pail holds nineteen pounds of 
water, or 2.272 United States gallons. 

One horse-power will raise I6I/2 tons per minute a 
height of 12 inches, working 8 hours a day. This is 
about 9.900 foot-tons daily, or 12 times a man's work. 

locompSSble"^ Hydraulic and Pumping Hachinery, water is considered as 

»?nn*l.f»^'l'^T-^t"?^^^'['^^^^?* the actual elevation from the surface of suc- 
wafJthrnn^J''^ f ^P^'^iS^'^l'^^^'^Se. plus the friction head, caused by fl-w of 
"sucfiSt^^ anT'd°s?ht^etft.-?' piping-often referred to sin^ply as^-l:ff or 
••Pressure"— To find the pressure due to the head, when water is at rest 
simply multiply the vertical height in feet, of the column of water, by 434 A 
quicker way to approximate is to divide the vertical height in feet by 2 The re- 
Lof^l.^^ 1 ^ pressure m pounds per square inch on retaining walls at bottom of 
water column, or plunger load. "^nv^m ui 

«,«t;^„il°*"'*'!''^*^^'"A''"7'P discharges water on both forward and backward 
motions of piston, and has double the capacity df a Single-acting Pump, 
nr nnnKiI'lV®.'' *^"'"J?t." a three-cylinder Pump. The Cylinders are either Single 
withoSt p^^sal^^n. ' ^'''^^^S^°^ a Triplex Pump is practically uniform a^nd 

To Find the Circumference of a Circle: Multiply the diameter by 3.1416 
r.,v A r^ Capacit esi-Of a Single-acting Pump: Multiply the square of the 

^rl? Va^'^T%^u 'o",;"*".^" ^y ■''^^^' ^°^ ^y l^e J^^gth of stroke ia inches. ThisI 
product divided by 2.31 gives the capacity in gallons per stroke. Doubling tbe di- 
•aeierof a Cylinder increases its capacity four times. 



854 The Primer of Irrigation. 

To find the number of gallons In a tank, multiply Fhe inside bottom diameter 
in inches by the Inside top diameter in inches, then this product by 34, point 
off fobr figures, and the result will be the average number of gallons to onfe 
inch in depth of tank. 

For the circumference of a circle, multiply the diameter by 3. 14 fb. 

For the diameter of a circle, multiply the circumference by .31381. 

For the area of a circle, multiply the square of the diameter by .7854. 

For the size of an equal square, multiply the diameter by .8862. 

For the surface of a ball, multiply the square of the diameter by 3.1416.^ 

Fpr the cubic inches in a ball, multiply the cube of tb^ diameter by .5236. 

SHORT FORMULAS FOR PUMP CAPACITY AND POWER 

©^Diameter of Pump Cylinder in inches. S— Length of stroke in inches. 

N"-Nunit)er of strokes per minute. Q—Quantity of water in gallons, raised per minvltt 

H— Total height, in feet, water is elevated, figuring from surface of suction water to highest poiat 
of discharge. 

THEN WE HAVE 
!>• X .'854 "=The Area of a Circle (or Cylinder) of given diameter. 

I>* z S z .78&t oCapacity of Pump in cubic inches, per stroke. 
D' X S 
• .^. — —Capacity of Pump per stroke in gallons. 

AnpQ ..2 "Capacity of Pump per stroke in cubic feet 

D' X S . 

at .^gft ""Capacity of Pump per stroke in pounds of water* 

D' zSx.TSMxN— Capacity of Pump per minute in cubic inches. 

D'zSxN t-"J 

294 ""Capacity of Pump per minute in gallons, (— Q). 

* ^Capacity of Pump per minute in cubic feet. 

2200.152 f J t- K- 

D> X H z .3409 —Total pressure in pounds on the Pump Cylinder when at rest. When at wo*^ 
add for pipe friction as «letermined from tables elsewhere. 
Q ••Numl>er of strokes per minute necessary to raise a given quant iiy of water ti* 

i>* z S z .00.34 gallons. 

The at>ove formulas will gtve results correct to the third decimal place. 



How to Use CemenU 255 

HOW TO USE CEMENT. 

The following general rules referring to the practical use of 
cement will be found convenient for reference: 

Quality of Sand— Th« sand should be clean, sharp and coarse. When the sand 
is mixed with loam the mortar will set comparatively slow, and the work will be 
comparatively weak. Fine sand, and especially water-wor'h sand, delays the set- 
ting of the cement, and deteriorates strength. Damp sand should not be mixed 
with dry cement, but the cement and sand should be mixed thoroughly and uni- 
formly tbgether, when both are drv, and no water should b« applied until imme> 
diately before the mortar is wan tea for use. 

Proportion of Sand — The larger the proportion of cement the stronger the 
work. One part of good cement to two parts sand is allowable for ordinary work: 
but for cisterns, cellars, and work requiring special care, half and half is the betttf 
proportion. For floors, the cement should be increased toward the surface. 

Water in Concrete— Use no more water in cement than absolutely necessary. 
Cement requires but a very small quantity of water in crysralizing. Merely damp- 
ening the material gives the best results. Any water in excess necessarily evapor« 
atesand leaves the hardened cement comparatively weak and porous. 
. Concrete In Water — Whenever concrete is used under water, care must be 
taken that the water is still. So say all English and Americarf .authorities. In lay* 
ii^ cellar floors, or constructing cisterns or similar work, care must filso be taken to 
Avoid pressure of exterior water. Cement will not crystalize when disturbed by 
the force of currents, or pressure of water, but will resist currents and pressure after 
hardening only. In still water, good cement will harden quiekerthan in air, and 
when kept in water will be strpnger than when kept in air. Cements which harden 
e>pecially quick in air are usually slow or worthless in water. 

How to Put Down Concrete — When strong work is wanted, for cellar floors 
#ad^Isimilarw6rk, the concrete should be dampened and tamped down to place, 
with the back of a spade, or better, with the end of a plank or rammer: then finished 
off with a trowel, thus leveling and compacting the work. Onlypersbns ignor- 
ant of the business will lay a floor or walk with soft cement mortar. All artificial 
erone is made ia a similar way to that described, and, when set, is strong and hard 
as stone. 

Delay In Use— Do not permit the mortar to exhaust its setting properties by de- 
''^lyingits use when reader. Inferiorxements only will remain standing in the niortar- 
bed any length of time without serious iiijury. 

Stone £|nd Brick Work— In buildings constructed ol stone or brick, the best 
protection from dampness and decay, and also from the danger of cyclones, is a 
Biortar of bement and coarse sand. The extra cost is inconsiderable, and the in- 
creased value of the structure very great. Chimneyslaid in this manner never blow 
down, and cellai;& whose foundations are thus laid are always free from atmospheric- 
moisture. Cement may also be mixed with lime mortar for plastering and other 
purposes, to great advantage. 

EfFtBCt of Frost and Cold— At a temperature less than 60 degrees Fahrenhdt, 
all good cement sets slowly, though surely, but if allowed) to freeze its vajue is seri- 
ously impaired. In cold weather or cold water do not fear ta wait fpr your concrete 
to crystalize. 

• Damage from Moisture— Good cement is not injured by age, if carefully pre- 
•erved from moisture. Lumps in bags or barrels of cement are caused by exposure 
to moistpre. They prove the origiaally good quality of the cement. 



256 



The Primer of Irrigation. 



WEATHER FORECASTS. 

Almanac predictions can be nothing but conjecturie^, the 
earth's subjection -to irian/ unknowable and undeterminable 
forces rendering such calculations, impossible. It is practicable, 
however, by. the following rules, drawn from actual results 
during very many years and applied with due regard to the sub- 
jects of solar and lunar attraction with reference to this 
"planet, to foresee the kind of weather jnos/ likely to follow the 
moon's change of phase. 

PROGNOSTICATIONS. 



If New Mooh First Qr., Full 
r. Moon or Last Qr. happens 



Between midnight and 2 a.m. 



2 
'4 
6 
8 
10 
12 
2 
4 

.1 

10 



4 

6 

8 
10 
12 

2p 

4 

6 

8 
10 
midn 



M.i 



't 



Id SuiTHner 



Fair 

Cold and showers... 

Rain.. 

Wind and rain 

Changeable 

Fi-equent showers, .i 

Very rainy .i* 

Changeable #.. 

Fair ,.» 

Fair if wind N. W . . 
Rainy if S. orS, W. 
Fair 



In Winter. 



Frost, unless wmd is S. W. 

Snow aod »tormy*. 

Rain. 

Stormy. 

Cold rain if wind W., snow if 

Cold and high wind. [E. 

Snow or rain. 

Fair and mild. 

Fair. [E. 

Fair 'and frosty if wind N.orN. 

Rain or snow if S. or S. W. 

Fair and frosty. 



", Observations.— 1, The nearer the m6on's change, first quarter, full and last 
uarter to midnight, the fairer will be the weather during the next seven days. 
; 3. The space (or this calculation occupies from ten at night tiU two next morning. 
'3. The nearer to w/V/a'ay or wt'^w the phase of the moon happens, the,, more foul 
or wet weather iriay be expected during the next seven days 

4. The space for this calculation occupies from ten In the forenoon' to*wo in the 
afternoon. These observations refer principally to summer, thoi/gh Ihey affeet 
Spring and autumn in the same ratio. • » •. ' , . 

5. The moon's change, first quarter, full and' last quarter happerinJg during six 
of the afternoon hour., /. e., from four to ten, may be followed by fair weather, but 
this is mostly dependent on the wind as is noted in the table. 

6. Though the weather, from a variety of irregular causes. is more uncertain in the 
latter part of autumn, the whole of winter ?nd the beginning of spring, j^et, in the 
main, the abpve observations win apply to these periods also . , 

7. To prognosticate correctly, especially in those cases where the viini is con« 
eemed, the observer should be within sight of a van$ whiere iKe fwr Ctrdioal 
{>oints of the compass are correctly placed 



General Information. 267 

POWER RBOUIRBD TO RAISE WATER: To find the TheoreUcal HorM Pt^m,m *r, »«-i 

JJjter. multiply Oie Gallons pumped per Minute by the Head inTet ^d d?v^e ihrjJrS?,,2iS 

WOO and the result will be the Theoretical Power required Double the ThenrVHr!i^^ 

^s'.h°a:\t,iL° "^ *"* -orU. although the better gr^defof ^SUa'»* L';^d%;V'^t'nrp7u7/^^^^ 

pirrV OF PUMPINO engines is a ratio of the work done by the Pumo to the <5i«m or 

THE 'pTp?nQ OF Si>';'''""'r ""'""^"^ foofpounds^e/JSKTru^uL^Vs't^'^^StS' 

5"or,o7H;r.v.?;^--;raiurse^i-^-^^^^^ 

r^e^?h7^^n^;?;?#in?nr-^"^""""'^^^^ 

T?/'^'?^ '•^i!?^ SPEEt^ OR SIZE OF PULLEVS: 

spee^dV£d^fl?,?;V^Xl'l}^^^^ 

spee^d}|rdiVl5e?hrpr^o[,^Jt%i^ 

.pee^d^Wi^^rhrpV^u^cl'^^^^^^^^^^ 

•tlla«.e^« ..^'^ QEAftiNO .» esttmated i.. same way. subsUttitiig the fwm^er 0/ go, teeth tot 



V 




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